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FEMALE CONVENTS. 



SECRETS 



NUNNERIES DISCLOSED 

COMPILED FROM THE 

AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS 



SCIPIO DE RICC I, 

XOMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF P1STOIA AND PRATO. 



BY MR. DE POTTER. 



EDITED BY THOMAS ROSCOE. 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY AND APPENDIX. 



Aeu£o, f$ei£w rfoi rrjv (xyjrS^a twv tfopv 



NEW YORK: 
P. APPI.F.TON A CO., 200 BROAPWAV. 



1834 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1834 by 

D. APPLETON & CO., 

In the clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of 



New York. 



WK. VAN NORDKN, l'RINT. 



NOTICE 



The ensuing disclosures respecting Monachism and Pope- 
ry are' selected from the " Memoirs of Scipio de Ricci, late 
Bishop of Pistoia and PratoJ Reformer of Catholicism in Tus- 
cany, during the reign of Leopold. Compiled from the auto- 
graph manuscripts of that Prelate. ; Edited from the original 
of Mr. de Potter, by Thomas Roscoe." London, 1829.' 

Almost one half of the two original volumes are filled with 
the history of Italy during the period subsequent to the 
French revolution in 1789, and with incidental notices of 
Ricci's private life, and that of his numerous friends and cor- 
respondents. Nearly all those political and military details 
are omitted ; because the sole objects designed by the present 
publication are these; to unfold the genuine and unvarying 
vraclices of male and female convents ; and to demonstrate, 
that the claims of the Papacy are totally incompatible with 
civil and religious liber'y, and equally destructive of indi- 
vidual dignity, social decorum, and national intelligence 
and enjoyments . 

As the present work is reprinted from the " Memoirs of 
Scipio de Ricci," with those alterations only which were in- 
dispensable to preserve the continuity of the narrative ; the 
English editor's preface imparts all requisite information con- 
cerning this most valuable andMnteresting development of the 
character of nunneries, the motives and arts of the Papal 
priesthood, and the immutable and universally mischievous 
and detestable policy of the Pontiff's and ecclesiastical Court 
of Rome. 



PREFACE BY THOMAS ROSCOE. 



Scipio de Ricci deservedly ranks among the sincere and 
venerable defenders of religious truth and liberty : and Mr. de 
Potter, in collecting these materials, has performed a task 
very acceptable to the students of contemporary history. 

During the agitating and fearful drama of the eighteenth 
century, when liberty herself was desecrated by being allied 
with Atheism, and made the enemy of outraged humanity, 
the Bishop of Prato and Pistoia planned a system of reform 
which would have established the freedom of his countrymen 
on true moral, intellectual, and religious improvement. The 
most zealous enemy of injustice in states and governments 
was not more opposed to oppression, nor more fervent in his 
desire of seeing mankind emancipated from every species of 
tyrannous thraldom ; but he was superior in his design to the 
spirit of the age. He desired reform civil and ecclesiastic ; 
and endeavored to pursue a line of action, which, if success- 
ful, would have led to the establishment of religious and moral 
improvement in the Italian States. 

The narrative of the struggles, of the hardships and afflic- 
tions, which this prelate had to encounter in carrying on his re- 
forms, is a most interesting biography. Emancipating himself 
from the trammels of falsehood and superstition, he appears 
to have been carried forward by the purity and moral correct- 
ness of his feelings, and by the exercise of an ingenuous 
mind in the defence of truth and right. But Ricci, though 
possessing all the virtues of humanity, and all the sincerity 
which should form the character of a reformer, was wanting 
in those sterner elements which are requisite to a man stand- 
ing in the situation that he occupied. His good sense and 
his love of truth excited his hatred of the base and enslaving 
1* 



PREFACE. 

superstitions with which he saw religion corrupted. His hu- 
manity made him wish to see his fellow creatures freed from 
such degradation ; but his spirit, never bold enough to main- 
tain such a situation, failed him. His ideas of the duty of 
submission, united with the natural mildness of his character, 
confounded the plain and obvious reasoning which a stronger 
mind would have employed ; and he fell a victim to his own 
want of determination, and to the artifices of the common 
enemies of himself, of liberty, and of religion. 

Many papers of the immense mass of documents which the 
original Editor of Ricci's Life has printed, could only be valu. 
able to those who require to be told, that where superstition 
and political profligacy reign in their most degraded forms, 
morality and decency must be entirely forgotten. As the 
vices of the monks and nuns are sufficiently exposed, we have, 
therefore, spared the reader the disgusting toil of perusing 
details which would add no additional proof to a truth already 
known. 

The original work, of which all the valuable and important 
parts are here presented to the reader, was composed from 
the autograph manuscripts and private memorials of Ricci. 
They were furnished to the Editor by the nephew of the 
Prelate ; and no doubt exists respecting their authenticity. 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 



Among "the signs of the times," no one is more replete 
with melancholy forebodings, than the rapid extension of the 
monastic system, both in these United States and in Britain. 
Three hundred years ago, the English Monasteries and Nun- 
neries were demolished by act of parliament ; the preamble 
of which alleged as the cause of their dissolution, the inde- 
scribable turpitude and innumerable atrocities, which were 
inseparable from their very existence. Throughout all the 
protestant countries, since the reformation of the sixteenth 
century, male and female Convents have been abhorred, not 
only by all Christians, but by every wise and good citizen. 
They have almost disappeared from France, and in Spain they 
are hastening to extinction ; in Portugal they have been de- 
stroyed ; and in no country on earth, except in this Federal 
Republic and the British dominions, are they viewed in any 
other aspect, than as objects of detestation, domicils of inor- 
dinate wickedness, or dungeons of unmitigable despair. 

During the last five years, many ineffectual attempts have 
been made to arrest the attention of American Protestants 
to the true character and pernicious results of the monkish 
life. The conflagration of the Ursuline Nunnery at Charles- 
town, however, has elicited a regard to the subject, which it 
is proper should be improved; and to impress and enlighten 
the public mind, no mode seemed to be equally adapted, as a 
selection from the authentic materials of which the ensuing 
work is composed. The testimony is unexceptionable ; being 
that of a Roman Catholic Prelate, who was commissioned by 
a Prince subject to the Papal jurisdiction, expressly to inves- 
tigate the arcana of conventual life ; and it was compiled by 



Vlll INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 

a Civilian connected with the Roman hierarchy. The docu- 
ments, therefore, cannot be objected to as of Protestant origin ; 
because every fact is affirmed upon the authority of the Roman 
Prelate, and his Papal coadjutors, or of his deceitful and fero- 
cious persecutors. 

The succeeding narrative illustrates the two most impress- 
ive topics appertaining to popery, which American citizens 
can contemplate. Very little reference is made in this work 
to the theological portions of Romanism. Proselytes to Je- 
suitism are not collected in this country by the exhibition of 
the Popish idolatrous ritual, or the blasphemy of the Mass, or 
the absurdities of transubstantiation, or ludicrous delineations 
of purgatory, or the obscenities of auricular confession, or 
the usurped claim to govern conscience and to pardon sin, or 
even by the all absorbing assumption of infallibility. The 
primary allurement is, the fraudulent pretext of a superior 
education, to be obtained through their instrumentality, and 
the crafty adhesion to the strongest political party, which may 
temporarily gain the ascendency. Thus it is demonstrated, 
that the community of Papists in every Protestant country, are 
a distinct and isolated body, having no common interests with 
the other part of society ; and always prepared to seize every 
opportunity to grasp power, and extend their pestiferous in- 
fluence. 

Scipio de Ricci, from whose memoirs the subsequent de- 
scription of Nunneries is compiled, has also unfolded the 
unchangeable turpitude and stupendous artifices which now 
characterize the infernal policy of the Roman Pontiffs and 
their court of Cardinals. This part of the volume is of equal 
importance to us, as his developments concerning Monks and 
Nuns. By the most undeniable historical details, and by other 
authentic documents, pontifical bulls, decretals, and canons, 
the fact is incontestable, that the Popes ever have claimed, as 
Gregory XVI. the reigning " Man of Sin," does now arrogate 
to wield the destinies of all mankind, upon penalty of the 
greater excommunication for rejection of his iniquitous au- 
thority, or disobedience to his accursed mandates. The dis- 
cussions concerning the Bull " In Ccena Domini," and the 
Decretals, are invaluable expositions of the inflexible spirit 
which guides and determines all the measures that are adopted 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. IX 

by the Roman hierarchy. They testify beyond all cavil, that 
the dissemination of Popish principles, and the fearful increase 
of Romanists in this country, endanger the whole frame of 
civil society ; and threaten, unless their progress be efficiently 
arrested, to subvert the whole fabric of the rights of con- 
science, and the government and constitution of the United 
States. European history, and the annals of Canada, Mexico, 
and South America, attest, that Popery in power, and true 
freedom as it is understood in this republic, cannot possibly 
exist together. The present volume renders that state- 
ment morally certain. Our grand design by this publication, 
however, was this ; to unfold the principles, character, and 
doings of Female Convents. It may probably be objected, 
that some of the disclosures which the Roman Prelate has 
made, are so disgusting that they ought not to have been re- 
printed. In ordinary cases the plea would be admissible — but 
in reference to Popery it is invalid. A destructive incredulity 
exists respecting the horrible impurity and deadly practices of 
Nuns, who are cloaked under various bewitching appellatives, 
and decorated in meretricious garbs expressly to ensnare and 
seduce our citizens. That mischievous fascination, it is essen- 
tial to the public welfare, as well as to the security of the 
Christian Churches, to unravel and expose in lucid display. 
Leopold, Prince of Tuscany, merits the gratitude of the whole 
civilized world, for his attempts to exterminate the Convents 
in his dominions ; and Scipio de Ricci, the Roman Prelate 
who endeavored to cleanse those " holds of every foul spirit," 
indescribably more filthy than even the fabulous Augean sta- 
ble, "being dead, yet speaketh." After due consultation 
with the most competent judges, and some of the prominent 
champions of evangelical truth, in the present " war upon the 
Beast ;" it was resolved, that the revolting discoveries which 
the Bishop of Pistoia and Prato made, should be presented to 
the public unmutilated ; with anxious solicitude that the hide- 
ous pictures of Nuns and Nunneries which he has delineated, 
might tend to the exclusion of that part of "the mystery ot 
iniquity," from this nominally Christian republic. 

What, therefore, are the principal instructions which we 
derive from the researches that Scipio de Ricci made into the 
secrets of the Italian Female Convents 1 and what arguments 



X INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 

can be adduced against the continuance and extension of the 
monastic system in the United States 1 

It is irrelevant now to review the origin and progress of 
monachism ; nor is it of any importance to inquire into the 
supposititious benefits and certain injuries, which in former 
generations Monasteries and Nunneries are alleged to have 
produced. Our investigation applies to the present period, 
and to our own country ; and in this aspect, it may justly be 
propounded for consideration, whether it be not the incumbent 
duty of the legislatures of the different States to prohibit those 
institutions by law 1 ? 

The perusal of the ensuing pages fully sanctions four general 
propositions, either of which is amply sufficient to justify the 
utmost repugnance to Popery, which Christianity inculcates ; 
and all of which combined evidently demand, that every good 
citizen should strive by all legitimate methods, to stop this 
enemy which cometh in like a flood ; and that every sincere 
Christian should lift up the standard of the spirit of the Lord 
against him. 

I. Nunneries and the conventual mode of life, are altogether 
contradictory to the Divine appointments respecting the 
order of nature, and the constitution of mankind and human 
society. 

That declaration of Jehovah, which constitutes the founda- 
tion of all human existence, and especially of all our domestic 
ties and endearments, is coeval with the creation of mankind ; 
" It is not good that the man should be alone." In his allwise 
benevolence, the Lord of life made " a help meet for him." 
The law of Paradise is corroborated by the express mandate 
of Christianity ; 1 Corinthians, vii. 2. ; " let every man have 
his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." 
This appointment of God, and this recommendation of the 
gospel, are both founded, we are assured, upon the same prin- 
ciple, and are proposed for the identical result ; " to avoid 
fornication." 

In all cases whatever, to violate these laws of creation and 
providence which are manifestly written upon man and his 
terrestrial existence, endangers our safety, either in its phy- 
sical, mental, or moral relations. That the monastic system 
destroys life, entombs the intellect, and engenders inordinate 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XI 

corruption of the most direful species, is a fact too notorious 
now to require proof. 

" The monastic life is unnatural, for it is in direct opposition 
to an original principle of the human mind, by which our 
species are connected among themselves, the desire of society; 
and the professed and primary object of monastic institutions 
is preposterous, because their existence is one continuous 
crime against God, and against human society, increasing 
every hour in magnitude and atrocity." 

" Go, teach the drone of ghostly haunts, 
That wastes in indolence his time, 
Though superstitious hymns he chants, 
His life is one continued crime." 

The monastic system, if universally adopted, would be 
general suicide. Not merely is the practice opposed because 
it is unnatural, but because it is unjust and ruinous. Respect- 
ing investigations that combine the very existence of man- 
kind, we have no concern with individual exceptions, and 
especially in cases where no evidence can be proffered to sus- 
tain the alleged singularity ; and in truth, where no proof can 
be valid against the original appointment of God, and the 
essential constitution of mankind. To all arguments which 
are based upon the exemplary purity of the voluntary celibate 
life of men, and the unavoidably coerced unmarried state of 
many lovely and refined women, there is the Divine retort, 
" it is not good that the man should be alone." There is uni- 
versal testimony arising from the constant experience of the 
human family, that a life of celibacy is a course of unceas- 
ing impurity ; and there are historical records which verify 
that the system of monachism is directly at war with all the 
benevolent designs of God, and with all the essential inter- 
ests of mankind. 

The original constitution of human relations, as appointed 
by God, also determines that a life of celibacy is a course of 
injustice. No man either has a right to live unmarried, or 
can be justified for his palpable infringement of the Divine 
law ; and consequently, there is a prior argument of Divine 
authority against the contrivance of Monks and Nuns which 
no negative evidence can possibly invalidate. The two chief 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, 



points upon which reliance is placed as exoneration of the 
Roman Priesthood, and their cloistered sisters, from the charge 
of sensuality, are most perversely alleged. One is, their se- 
clusion from the world and its temptations ; and the other is, 
their abstinence, fasting and macerations. Although it could 
be evinced, that both those principles were fully carried out, 
and in their most extensive operation ; nevertheless, the fact 
would not be demonstrated, that the monastic system could 
control that attraction between the sexes, which like the other 
animal instincts, is indispensable to the preservation of human 
life. But the reverse is the fact. In all ordinary cases, no 
persons live more luxuriously than the Papal Ecclesiastics, 
both male and female : and their severance from the world 
and its fascinations is more nominal than real. 

That the abodes of Monks and Nuns are perfectly unnatural ; 
and as the unavoidable tendency, that they are the prolific 
sources of the most horrid uncleanness, the ensuing pages 
awfully prove. Without a constant miracle, they could not be 
otherwise. The attachment of the sexes towards each other, 
is indispensable and universal ; without it the race of man in 
one generation would be extinct. The monastic system viti- 
ates all the social affections, and incarcerates man in a cage 
of selfishness, and circumscribes all his affections within the 
restricted limit of his own personal gratifications. Were that 
unholy device to attain any extension and protracted supre- 
macy, the moral hemisphere would speedily be subverted, and 
the Gospel of Christ, which is totally opposed to all the monk- 
ish infatuation, would again disappear in the more than Egyp- 
tian darkness that would overspread the world. The monastic 
system necessarily demands, that they who adopt it, should 
be persons deprived of every capacity for general usefulness, 
and also be men and women destitute of all the usual sensi- 
bilities of humanity. Whatever the inmates of convents may 
have been individually ; whether an occasional Friar may have 
been gifted with continency, or whether some Nun or novi- 
ciate, under almost unparalleled circumstances, may have re- 
sisted the evils of the confessor, and the seductive influence of 
the licentious examples continually around her, is of no im- 
portance in deciding this question. This result could not 
uniformly follow, without the immediate direct interposition 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. Xlll 

of the " Lord of all." A miraculous intervention of the 
most extraordinary character, and in comparison with which 
all the stupendous works of Jesus, the " Son of God," are 
profoundly eclipsed, must ever be directed in the choice, im- 
pulse, and restraint of a few individuals, contrary to the ex- 
press universal and immutable appointments of God at crea- 
tion, and the divinely constituted arrangements which he has 
made for the increase and preservation of mankind, and the 
blessing of the Church and the world. 

II. The monastic system is opposed to personal piety, know- 
ledge, purity, and usefulness, and invariably tends to debase 
its victims in ignorance, sensuality, crime and anguish. It 
would not be practicable to present a more lucid view of the 
character of Nunneries, than in the picture drawn of them 
by Mackray, in his Essay on the effect of the reformation upon 
civil society. Every feature of the hideous and appalling 
view is graphically correct, as proved by the more recent de- 
lineations of Scipio de Ricci. Appendix A. 

It would be superfluous to attempt an elaborate proof of 
the proposition, that evangelical piety is incompatible with 
monastic life. What might be the effect of the system under 
any possible modifications, it is irrelevant to inquire. Un- 
varying testimony assures us that " pure religion and unde- 
fined," has never yet been exemplified in claustral life. Gloomy 
superstitious forms, and sanctimonious mummery have been 
practised with apparent austerity ; but communion with God, 
love of the brethren, practical piety, and Christian holiness, 
are profound strangers to the monastic system. In truth, the 
celibate life, which is its primary and cardinal ingredient, 
extirpates all that is pure and good. Of this fact, the two 
English Universities are a remarkable demonstration. In 
those splendid endowments, it is required that the " fellows," 
as they are called of the Colleges, shall be unmarried men. 
The consequence is this, that probably Oxford and Cambridge 
embody more notorious and inordinate dissoluteness, than any 
other towns in Britain. This is the legitimate result of re- 
taining, as is still done in England, so large a portion of the 
antiquated usages and popish corruptions of the dark ages. 

The boasts which are so often made of the learning of an- 
terior generations under the papal supremacy; and thelamen- 
2 



XIV INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 

tations that have been offered over the supposed literary losses 
to the world, by the demolition of the monasteries, are merely 
idle affectation. The author already quoted has supplied us 
with an illustration upon this topic not less instructive than 
convincing. Appendix B. 

Of all the drones who ever infested the world, none surpass 
in perfect uselessness, and its inseparable attendants, vice and 
misery, the inhabitants of convents. Indolence is their best 
characteristic. Incarcerated in a gloomy mansion, with no 
duties to fulfil, no motives to activity, no sympathy or re- 
lationship for the exterior world, and no anxiety for its im- 
provement, or feeling for its desolations, of what value are 
those excrescences upon society] 

" In shirt of hair, and weeds of canvass dress'd, 
Girt with a bell-rope that the Pope has bless'd ; 
Wearing out life in his pernicious whim, 
Till his mischievous whimsy wears out him." 

No man has a right to absolve himself from all the duties 
which he owes to the world. No woman can be justified for 
abandoning all the obligations which she owes to society. No 
Christian, therefore, possibly can be a Friar or a Nun. 

III. Monachism directly counteracts the progress of intelli- 
gence, civil and religious freedom, commercial prosperity, and 
national improvement. It is the peculiar property of Ro- 
manism to defile and curse every thing with which it comes into 
contact : and if there be any part of that " working of Satan," 
called Popery, which possesses more deleterious qualities than 
the rest of "the mystery of iniquity," it is the monastic sys- 
tem. An irresistible argument might be framed from the 
spirit of monkish institutions, which would demonstrate that 
they must deteriorate the human character, and obstruct all 
the stable interests of the body politic. Every incentive to 
progress under its mischievous influence is extirpated. In 
former ages, when the edifices devoted to Friars and Nuns 
were found in every district of the European nations, what 
was their character, and what was the result of their establish- 
ment ? Universal barbarism, penury, wretchedness, and 
crime. All the annals of the thousand years prior to the Re- 
formation, bear the same decisive and unequivocal testimony 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XV 

to the benighted, and impoverished, and degraded condition 
of the then existing people. Could it possibly be otherwise 1 
All the impulses to enterprise and personal and social eleva- 
tion, under the government of the Papacy, and especially 
within the cloistered battlements, are utterly unknown. Any 
other knowledge than that which can be made subservient to 
priestly aggrandizement, is pronounced accursed ; and subjects 
the possessor of it to imprisonment, torture, and death. Pro- 
bably the dark dungeons of Popery scarcely unfold a more 
demonstrative proof, that hostility to science was not the error 
of one age, but that it is the crime of the Papal system, than 
the history of Galileo. His experience is undeniable evidence 
that an inveterate and perpetual warfare is waged by the Pon- 
tifical Court, not against pure religion only, but also against 
true philosophy and the noblest science. 

" Galileo had become a convert to the Copernican astrono- 
my ; and, by a succession of most splendid discoveries, had 
demonstrated the motion of the earth around the sun. The 
ignorant Pope and besotted Cardinals, and the ferocious Inqui- 
sitors, accused that dignified philosopher and the greatest 
scientific scholar of his age, of the crime of heresy ; and Gali- 
leo was cast into a dungeon of the Inquisition. His sublime 
knowledge was condemned by priestly bigots, all whose intelli- 
gence was restricted to the most voluptuous mode of gratify- 
ing their inordinate sensual appetites, and who were too 
grovelling and carnal minded to comprehend his lofty specula- 
tions and etherial soarings ; and to that superlative astronomer 
was presented the alternative, either to deny self-evident 
mathematical propositions, or to be burnt as a heretic. At 
seventy years of age, on his knees, and with his hand on the 
Gospels, he condemned, abjured and cursed his own infallible 
opinions, and swore before the infamous Inquisitors, that he 
would never more hold or assert in word or writing the doc- 
trines which he had demonstrated, that the sun is the center of 
the solar system, and that the earth moves. From that day 
he never afterwards cither wrote or talked upon the subject of 
astronomy." 

What is the Index Expurgatorius, but a pontifical law, 
which dooms the whole dominions over which the Pope's 
jurisdiction extends to Egyptian darkness ? All books, in every 



f 



XVI INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 

department of literature, theological, scientific, historical, and 
upon the ornamental arts, unless they directly or indirectly aid 
the despotic claims of the Roman Court, are condemned to be 
burnt. The catalogue begins with the Holy Bible, and includes 
almost every genuine book which is truly worthy of perusal, 
either ancient or modern. That prohibition of books is most 
sedulously complied with in all convents ; and the explorations 
of Scipio de Ricci among the monasteries and priesthood of 
Tuscany, convince us that the boasted literary lore of Jesuit 
seminaries, and Ursuline convents, must necessarily be an im- 
posture ; because all the means of their attaining knowledge 
are most sedulously and authoritatively, by the Pope and his 
prelates, and equally by the voluntary design of the monastics, 
totally excluded. 

Popery decrees that " ignorance is the mother of devotion ;" 
and, of course, of every good quality — but Protestantism pro- 
claims, that " knowledge is power." The monastic system is 
destructive of illumination, and consequently of liberty. Des- 
potism, of the most abhorrent attributes, is both the very main- 
spring and aliment of conventual life. It gilds the cross which 
surmounts the principal turret, — it is the steam-pump by 
which, at auricular confession, every secret of the heart is 
evolved, and it is the iron key which locks up in impenetrable 
darkness the doleful mysteries of those dungeons of despair. 
The tyranny of the convent extends to every spiritual emotion, 
as well as to the language, features, demeanor and conduct ; 
and they must be moulded according to the imperious dictates 
of the superior and the chaplain. 

All this is irreconcilable with freedom ; and it is an indis- 
putable fact, that girls and boys, in this country, who have 
been trained up in a convent or monastery, unless the grace of 
God very powerfully operates upon them, exemplify the 
prominent features of the monastic system. Many persons 
now well known in society, exhibit such extraordinary varie- 
ties, that their companions realize great difficulty in attempt- 
ing to unravel their complex characters. They are blustering 
and servile — apparently candid, and yet profoundly deceitful — 
they mingle the fawning of a parasite with the stubbornness of 
a .Tiule — and can assume so many forms, that no man can 
place any reliance scarcely upon their personal identity. It is 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XV11 

the natural effect of a monastic education. They were in the 
basest bondage, and cannot shake off its habits ; they are in 
freedom, and know not how to improve it. That system which 
thus necessarily despoils citizens of their best qualities, ought 
to be execrated : for it is evident, that if extended so as to 
predominate throughout our country, all genuine freedom 
would be extinct. 

The superiority of Protestantism to Popery, in reference to 
mercantile enterprise, is so palpable that it requires neither 
illustration nor proofs. The wisdom of divine Providence is 
remarkably illustrated in the close connection which, in point 
of time, exists between the three grand events which have been 
the instruments, in the dispensations of the merciful Jehovah, 
in some measure to renovate the world : and the order of their 
occurrence was not less admirably planned, than the stupen- 
dous results which have flowed from them. The art of print- 
ing rendered universal the principles of nautical science ; the 
discovery of Columbus opened a way for adventurous spirits to 
realize the dignity of emancipation from the Pontifical 
shackles, by a removal where the thunders of the Vatican did 
not reverberate; and Luther, Zuingle, Calvin, Knox and 
Cranmer, broke to atoms the extinguishers which had so long 
concealed the true light, and liberated man soon commenced 
to traverse all latitudes and longitudes in search of knowledge 
and in quest of opulence. The contrast only between Protes- 
tant and Papal countries during the last 250 years, discloses a 
testimony against convents, which it is impossible to gainsay. 
Monks and Nuns in no form participate in the active duties 
which cultivate those products that are wafted into all lands, 
and from which, in return, the comforts and luxuries of life 
are obtained. Hence it follows, that the indolent life of 
Monks and Nuns is a barrier to all national improvement. 
The existing deplorable state of Tuscany, as portrayed in the 
ensuing pages, was, three hundred years ago, the state of all 
Europe. The swarms of Friars, and their cloistered paramours, 
consumed the vitals of every land. Their example encouraged 
sloth among all orders of the people. Poverty, wretchedness, 
debasement, and pillage characterized the whole community. 
It was either a gorgeous display of barbaric magnificence, by 
the feudal lord of the district, or the most appalling dependence 
2* 



XVUl INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 

and necessity. The history of every country which has ever 
been cursed by the Papal predominance, and especially the 
present condition of those who have been emancipated from 
its thraldom, when contrasted with their anterior state, veri- 
fies, that, to indulge any expectation of general benefit from 
the monastic system and from the predominance of Popery, ia 
just as wise as to attempt to " gather figs from thistles, and 
grapes from thorns." 

IV. The monastic system nullifies all the requirements of 
the Christian religion. Its duties are prohibited, its consola- 
tions intercepted, and by the operation of monachism, the 
exertions of gospel philanthropy are abrogated, and the uni- 
versal diffusion of the Kingdom of God, which is righteous- 
ness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, is totally impeded. 

It may probably be objected to this allegation, that the 
Monks of former ages were the persons by whom the Roman 
Court enlarged the pontifical sway. The fact is admitted, and 
it redounds still more to the disgrace of Popery and the Friars, 
that instead of propagating'the glorious Gospel, they only sub- 
stituted their own more refined idolatry and superstitions for 
the offensive abominations of Paganism. But transfer men 
and women to the cells of the convent, its sloth and secrecy, 
its constant mummeries and restless anxieties for freedom 
and enjoyment, its insatiable longir.gs, and its constant iden- 
tity of voluptuous and unsatisfying indulgence : and would 
you look for evangelical missionaries in those dens of igno- 
rance, sloth, and corruption ? 

All the monasteries on earth could not produce a Brainerd, 
a Swartz, a Vanderkemp, or a Martyn, with the rest of the 
glorified servants of Christ, exclusive of the living laborers in 
the vineyard of the Lord. Neither idiotism nor lunacy would 
dream of going into a convent to procure the counterparts of 
Anne Chater, Harriet Newell, Anne Judson, and the other 
intrepid and devoted women, who will live in everlasting re- 
membrance when the monastic system, with " the beast and 
the false prophet, shall be consumed in the lake of fire, burn- 
ing with brimstone." 

When the monkish system commenced, it was merely a 
flight into the desert, and a temporary abode in solitude, until 
the infernal storm of malignant persecution had dissipated its 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XIX 

fury. The crafty " Man of Sin " speedily perceived, that the 
monastic life and vows might easily be transformed into an 
irresistible machine to support his usurped despotism. Erro- 
neous opinions respecting the superior sanctity of the celibate 
life, and infatuated whims concerning the refining spirituality 
of years devoted to contemplation, enlarged the number of 
Monks ; until their independence of the Prelates permitted 
them to pass their time in one continuous scene of sensual 
indulgence. Notwithstanding all the indescribable corruption 
which characterized the Convents of Friars, and the Nun- 
neries, they maintained their ascendancy over the benighted 
and superstitious multitude. When we remember the pro- 
found ignorance, even of all the residents in the monastic 
edifices, we cannot feel surprise, although we must abhor their 
delusions and iniquity, that persons who were given over to 
"strong delusion," and who commingled all that was good 
on earth with the Pope's passport to heaven, should have 
yielded themselves to the support of a pretended, imposing, 
gaudy ceremonial, which allows every vicious indulgence for 
money, and which guaranteed an admission into Paradise to 
all who can purchase the title, sealed by the Pontiff of Rome. 

But the monastic system in modern times, and especially 
in the United States, in its essentially deceptive character, 
appears masked under the name and in the garb of literary 
institutions. In all those parts of Europe where the astound- 
ing wickedness of the male and female convents was divulged, 
it was impossible to protract their duration ; their inexpressi- 
bly flagrant dissoluteness rendered it absolutely impracticable, 
either to extenuate their turpitude, or prolong their existence. 

But as the number of persons devoted to celibacy, severed 
from the world, and in inalienable alliance with the Pope, is of 
vast solicitude to the Roman Court, the Pontiffs of the sixteenth 
century permitted the priests and their sisters, whose crimes 
were so odious that he dared not pardon them, and yet whose 
ungodly services were so valuable, that he could not dispense 
with them, to imborly themselves under a new and unsuspi- 
cious title. Thus many of the unprincipled mendicant Friars 
became Jesuits, and the most wicked Nuns were embodied 
under the name of Saint Ursula. The two orders are brother 
and sister. They are governed by the same principles — . 



xx INRTRODICTORY ESSAY. 

ostensibly pursue the same object— the education of youth. 
Always, however, professing great solicitude to teach Protest- 
ant children, but exhibiting no regard for the benighted and 
perishing souls of the Papists ; and they have ever exempli- 
fied an artifice which certifies, that with " cunning craftiness 
they lie in wait to deceive." 

But the grand inquiry is this— Are the spirit, principles, and 
practices of the monastic orders changed in modern times ? 
The answer may be found in the following portraiture of Tus- 
can convents. It is the perennial boast of all Romanists, 
both ecclesiastical and their disciples, that Popery is identical, 
and what it ever was, it is now, and always will be. This 
fact all history certifies ; consequently, Popery in the United 
States, in the nineteenth century, is the same as it was in 
Britain three hundred years since. But the Monks and Nuns 
are the staff of the Roman Court; and therefore, under what- 
ever vizors concealed, or by whatever name disguised, they 
are now the counterparts of their ancient atrocious predeces- 
sors. 

The monastic system comprises a total paralysis of all 
Christian good, in devotion, zeal and morals ; and substitutes 
childish superstitions, with the most debasing sloth and vice. 
But probably the worst effect of conventual institutions is 
the profoundly artificial character which they invariably pro- 
duce and nurture. Jesuitical dissimulation is an inseparable 
associate of the monkish life. Deception fills the unholy edi- 
fice from the foundation to the capstone ; it is the air which 
Monks and Nuns breathe, and the highly seasoned sauce which 
gives a relish to all their food, and by the operation of which 
their other privations are rendered tolerable. The ensuing 
details of the researches made by Scipio de Ricci demonstrate 
the truth of an inference, which in its application is most 
startling, that an inmate of a monastery or nunnery cannot 
retain the predominance of Christian principles and integrity. 
With the very few exceptions of those who have since be- 
come the subjects of redeeming grace, it is undeniable, that 
nearly all the young men in our country who have been trained 
up in the Jesuit Colleges, are either avowed or secret infidels, 
and not less licentious in practice than irreligious in princi- 
ple. There is not an instance to be found, unless those in- 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XXI 

eluded in that exception, even among the women, which is not 
conformable to the above statement. Every girl who has been 
educated in an American nunnery has departed from it — either 
a determined sceptic, or a hardened opponent of all religion, 
or a disguised and dispensed Papist ; and assuredly with every 
refined feminine sensibility destroyed, and most probably 
deeply versed in all those artifices that she has learned from the 
Jesuit confessor, by which she can deceive every person, and 
elude all discovery of her genuine character and secret dissi- 
pation. 

The hypocrisy which is stamped upon all the Jesuit Con- 
vents, whether superintended by Roman Priests or their Ursu- 
line sisters, is so undisguised, that it is astonishing our citizens 
do not indignantly repel the daring imposture. Those wily 
craftsmen, and their priestesses, proclaim that their sole object 
is to educate youth in a superior manner; and they boast of 
their extraordinary qualifications for that object. But the 
solemn inquiries may be propounded — why are those Priests 
and Nuns so anxious to teach Protestant children only 1 Why 
will they not receive them after they have passed the years 
of mere juvenility ? Why do they maintain all the strictest 
regulations of the ancient orders, whose very crimes were 
produced and perpetuated by the operation of those rules and 
customs 1 To these questions should be added the conside- 
ration, that Protestants have erected a system of education 
in almost all parts of our republic ; and although in many re- 
spects imperfect, yet the elementary principles of knowledge 
can every where be obtained ; while in many of our colleges, 
a course of literature is studied co-extensive with the acquire- 
ments of any similar foreign institution, and as far superior 
to all that any Jesuit seminary imparts, as the difference be- 
tween the oratory of George Whitefield, and the song of a 
Roman Priest, chanting a mass for a soul in purgatory. Pro- 
testant female institutions also are dispersed throughout our 
country, between which, for the purpose of literary tuition, 
and especially in point of Christian morals, and the nunneries 
established by the sister Jesuits, there is no more likeness 
than there is similitude between Hannah More, and the su- 
perior of the Ursulinc community at Charlestown. 

Now it is certain, that a very large and disproportionate 



XXH INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 

mass of ignorance, and its consequent immorality and debase- 
ment, is found among the Papists. Very few of them, com- 
paratively, can read or write ; and it is still more deplorable, 
although consistently mischievous, that the Roman Priests 
will not permit the popish youth to attend the schools of the 
" cursed heretics," as they denominate the Protestants. 
Why, therefore, if they are so extremely benevolent and phi- 
lanthropic as they profess, do not the Jesuits and the Ursu- 
lines dedicate their labor to the melioration of the moral cha- 
racter, and the improvement of the mental condition of the 
hundred thousand children of their own society, who are 
growing up to maturity, groping in darkness, and untamed as 
a wild ass's colt ] 

The only answer to this question is this — that the sole 
object of all the monastic institutions in America, is merely 
to proselyte youth of the influential classes in society, and 
especially females ; as the Roman Priests are conscious that 
by this means they shall silently but effectually attain the 
control of public affairs. No girl long attends auricular con- 
fession, either to the superior of the Nunnery or the Chaplain, 
before she is lost. Her will is subdued. She has surrendered 
herself to the control and implicit direction of two unspeaka- 
bly artful profligates, who have her reputation entirely at their 
disposal — and the declaration of Flavia Peraccini, Prioress of 
the convent at Pistoia, page 92, of this volume, may be in- 
fallibly affirmed of every one of them. The confessors " de- 
ceive the innocent, and even those that aremost circumspect ; 
and it would need a miracle to converse with them and not 
to fall!" 

With this knowledge of Monks and Nuns, and the official 
testimony of a prince and prelate, both subject to the Roman 
court, as narrated in this work, the appeal must solemnly be 
made to all Protestants — Can you justify before God and 
your country, your patronage of monastic institutions 1 Do 
you not endanger the virtue and usefulness of your children 
in this world, and also jeopard their everlasting welfare, by 
transferring your sons, and especially your daughters, to the 
management of Jesuit Priests and Qrsuline Nuns? From 
their primary organization about three hundred years ago, 
when they embodied the very refuse of the ancient orders, 



INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XXU1 

whose habitually nefarious course, the Papacy itself, which 
emphatically lieth in wickedness, would no longer tolerate ; 
those Roman ecclesiastics, the Jesuits, and their Ursuline 
sisters, have been uniformly the most loathsome examples of 
unnatural licentiousness, whose vitiosity is recorded in the 
annals of mankind. 

To all such blinded or deluded Protestant parents, may 
aptly be applied the pungent mandate and expostulation, 2 
Corinthians, vi. 14 — 18. " Be ye not unequally yoked together 
with unbelievers : for what fellowship hath righteousness with 
unrighteousness ?" Therefore, hear the voice from heaven, 
which says, " Come out of Babylon, that ye be not partakers 
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." 

The ensuing portraiture of Jesuit monasteries, and the 
Roman priesthood, and the pontifical hierarchy, and of female 
convents and nuns, is recommended to all those who are anx- 
ious to comprehend the genuine character and the uniform 
and universal practices of those institutions. Here are no 
high-wrought romantic fictions, no eloquent imaginative tales 
worked up for effect, and naught "set down in malice," byinimi- 
cal Protestants. The ensuing pages comprise grave and una- 
dorned testimony, furnished by a Popish prelate and his breth- 
ren, acting officially by the authority of a prince, subordinate 
to the Roman court ; and narratives prepared by the nuns 
themselves ; consequently, as the evidence cannot be impugn- 
ed, the description of ancient Judah and Jerusalem, by the 
prophet, may be correctly applied to the entire monastic sys- 
tem. Isaiah, i. 4, 5, 6. " Ah ! people laden with iniquity, a 
seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters ! From the 
sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in 
it, but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores." 

From this pestilential curse, may the God of mercy deliver 
our republic, and tlio American Churches ! 

New York, 10th October, 1834. 



SECRETS 

OF 

FEMALE CONVENTS 

DISCLOSED. 



CHAPTER I. 

Scipio dc Ricci studies among the Jesuits. — His Renunciation of the 
Principles of that Society. — His Ordination as Priest. — He inherits the 
Property of the last General of the Jesuits.— Suppression of the Order, 
anil Confinement of the Ex-General at Rome. — Death of Pope 
GranganellL — Narrative proving that Pope to have hcen poisoned. 

Scipio de Ricci was born in Florence on the 9th of 
January, 1741. He was the third son of the senator 
president, Peter Francis de Ricci, and of Maria Louisa, 
daughter of Bettina Ricasoli, baron of La Trappola, 
and captain of the Swiss guard in the service of the 
Duke of Tuscany. 

His family, one of the most ancient and distinguish- 
ed in Tuscany, was not at that time in favor with the 
House of Lorraine, who had been but recently seated 
on the Grand Ducal throne. His grandfather had 
professed republican principles, and his uncle had 
taken the side of the Bourbons against the House of 
Austria. Tiny were too proud to seek for court favor 
under these circumstances, and looked for preferment 
to other quarters. Young Ricci, who had lost his 
father, was therefore sent by his uncles to Rome, at 
the age of fifteen ; and, in spite of the protestations 
of his mother, and of the priest who had hitherto 
directed his studies, a man in his principles of religion 
3 



86 SECRETS OF 

and morality strongly opposed to Jesuitism, he was put 
under the care of the Jesuits. 

Catholic Europe was at that time occupied with the 
quarrels of that too famous body. Its insatiable ambi- 
tion, its immense riches, its terrifying power, the infor- 
mation diffused among its members, the great men of 
all kinds which it had produced and was every day 
producing, its doctrines subversive of the independence 
of governments and the morality of the people, — all 
these characteristics had divided the Roman com- 
munion into obstinate partisans of its system and its 
existence, already attacked on all sides, and into 
adversaries who thought only of its destruction. Scipio 
de Ricci had been bred in the very bosom of the order 
and by its members, and he had been initiated in their 
maxims, of which he knew the very smallest details ; 
but he was surrounded on the other side by the many 
antagonists which it had raised even in the metropolis 
of Catholicism. It was not long before he ranged 
himself among the most zealous and enlightened of 
those who hastened, with all their efforts and all their 
wishes, to promote the dissolution of this formidable 
society ; and who never ceased to pursue its remains, 
and mark out its spirit, as often as they thought there 
was any danger of a revival of the evil which it had 
caused to the great Christian community. 

Ricci was superstitious. While he was among the 
Jesuits, a tumor, which resisted all the remedies of art, 
appeared upon his knee. An amputation was decided 
upon ; when, as he informs us, he applied with fervor and 
constancy to the diseased part an image, representing 
the venerable Hyppolito Galantina, one of the brothers, 
called Bachettoni, and he was completely cured. Strange 
contradiction in the human mind ! that such ideas 
should co-exist in the same head with the rational, 
true, and solid principles, which made Ricci afterwards, 
to a certain extent, a religious reformer, a wise citizen, 
a zealous patriot, and a friend of the arts, literature, 
and humanity. 

In the house of the Canon Bottari, who was regard- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 25 

ed by the Jesuits as the chief of those who were 
accused of Jansenism, this miracle took place. The 
Canon made his own use of it ; and his conversation 
and that of the persons who frequented his house, 
eured Ricci of the ideas he had formed concerning the 
sanctity and doctrine, which he confesses up to that 
time he had allowed in the highest degree, and almost 
exclusively to the Jesuits. 

What he learned among these fathers did not tend 
less to prepare him for the aversion he was doomed 
to ieel for them hereafter, than what he had heard 
from their adversaries. The Irish Jesuit who was 
charged with teaching him the precious art of reason- 
ing, taught him nothing but a sophistical and captious 
logic— the sole end of which was "among a thousand 
useless questions and logomachies without number, to 
take for granted in all their extent, and in all the clear- 
ness of which they were susceptible, the fundamental 
principles of molinism and congruism, by means of 
the ideas of the medial science ; that is, of the means 
by which God sees conditional futures" It would 
be useless to explain this jargon. In the middle of 
his course he took a fancy to become a Jesuit, and 
consulted his family on the subject. He embraced the 
idea in order to prepare himself for a place in the other 
world, believing that this had been promised in a pro- 
phecy of Francis Borgia, to all members of the Society 
of Jesus. " A man," says he, " desirous of his eternal 
welfare would not neglect a passport of this nature ; 
and I had not the information necessary to perceive 
the vanity and nullity of such a pledge." 

The answer of his relatives was an order to return 
immediately to Florence. His mother had no partiality 
for the Jesuits ; and his uncles, whose ambition it was 
that bo should rise to the highest dignities of the 
church, neglected nothing to hinder him from burying 
himself ; with such hopes, in the den of a cloister. 
Scarcely had Ricci returned into Tuscany, in 1758, 
before he forgot his vocation, and thought of nothing 



28 SECRETS OF 

but concluding his studies at the university of Pisa, to 
which lie was sent. 

He pursued a course of theology at Florence, under 
the Benedictines of Mount Cassino, among whom P. 
Buonamici was at that time lecturer. He then became 
a Jansenist, or rather Augustinian. The sectaries of 
that name frequently join to their speculative and 
indifferent dogmas, the active and very important 
quality of being what is called legalists — that is, they 
make of religion what it really is, a matter of con- 
science, and leave the care of government to those who 
are charged with it. August in did not preach this 
doctrine any more than the other Christian writers of 
his time, who could not even doubt the horrible abuses 
which must in the course of ages arise from the infer- 
nal confusion of the temporal with the spiritual power. 
But the Jesuits had made themselves decretalists, that 
is to say, they were the apostles of these abuses ; and 
the Jansenists were obliged to combat these errors not 
only with the body which sustained them, but with 
the Popes, for whose particular advantage they were 
calculated. It was only gradually that these sectaries 
came to the degree of hardihood requisite openly to 
affront the prejudices so solidly established on the 
superstitious habits of the one party, and the inter- 
ested ambition of the other. Ricci, who in the course 
of his life ran round the whole circle of Jansenism, 
complains of it in these terms : " In the course of 
theology, the doctrine of Augustin was maintained 
with the greatest vigor ; but the respect which they 
still had for certain decretals, and the fear of offending 
the Court of Rome, did not permit the Benedictines to 
say all that perhaps they thought, but which circum- 
stances compelled them to keep silent.'' 

Ricci was ordained priest in 1766, and appointed 
almost immediately canon and auditor to the nuncia- 
ture of Tuscany. 

In 1772, he inherited the property of Corso de Ricci, 
canon-penitentiary of the cathedral at Florence, a 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 29 

relative of his father ; and though the brother of the 
last General of the Jesuits, he was very much 
opposed to the morality which they taught. 

This circumstance brought Ricci in contact with 
the General of the Jesuits. After the suppression of 
the society, the General begged from him an asylum 
in his hotel at Florence, or in one of his country 
houses in Tuscany, for himself and a lay-brother. 
Ricci went to Poggio-Imperiale, to communicate the 
request to the Grand Duke Leopold, who said at once, 
"Let him come; it is of no consequence to me whether 
he sojourns in my States or elsewhere ; bait," added he 
laughing, " I don't think they will let him go." This 
answer he communicated to his relation, but the 
General was not allowed to take advantage of it. He 
was at first confined in the English college, under the 
care of Cardinal Andrew Corsini, and of Signor 
Foggini ; but the congregation of Cardinals transferred 
him to the Castle of Angelo, where he underwent 
many examinations, and where without leaving it, he 
died. The death of the Pope who had suppressed the 
order, had preceded his. Ricci adds his testimony, 
that he was poisoned. Among his papers was found 
the following curious and interesting document. 

" Narrative describing- the last illness and death of 
Pope Clement XIV.. sent by the SpanisJi Minister 
to his Court 

"In 1770. a country girl of Valentino, whose name 
was Bernadine Beruzzi, first began to spread her pre- 
dictions respecting the Jesuits. There were a great 
number of other prophecies afloat, by means of which 
that society endeavored to rouse the superstition of the 
multitude for the evident purpose of restraining Clement 
XIV. from issuing the fatal decree of suppression. 
This Bernadine became notorious by her impostures. 
She predicted that the Society would not be extin- 
guished ; that one of its most celebrated members 
would be raised to the purple by Clement XIV. him- 



30 SECRETS OF 

self ; that the Jesuits would in a short time be restored 
to the states from which they had been expelled ; that 
the Pope would undergo a total change of sentiments 
towards them ; with a variety of other falsities. On 
the 24th of March this deluded prophetess announced 
the death of Clement XIV., and persisted in repeating 
the false intelligence, until after being convinced that 
he was still alive, she returned to her predictions 
respecting the honors and favors prepared for the 
Jesuits. After the suppression of the society in August 
1773, the prophecies still went on, in an altered tone; 
that the society would be re-established ; and that the 
Pope and all those who had assisted him would die. 
Various punishments were denounced against them. 
The real propagators of these predictions were some 
Jesuits who systematically employed themselves in 
that object : applied ut fiat systema is a phrase used 
in a letter by these fanatics. 

" Notwithstanding these rumors, the Pope lived in 
health and quiet more than eight months after the 
society had been abolished, though he always sus- 
pected the intrigues of the Jesuits, and mentioned 
his apprehensions. He resigned himself to the care 
of the Almighty, to whom he willingly offered himself 
a sacrifice, since, in suppressing the Jesuits, he had 
done what appeared to him absolutely necessary and 
just, after numerous and fervent prayers addressed to 
Heaven. 

" The Pope was of a robust habit ; his voice was 
strong and sonorous ; he walked with the agility of a 
young man ; his disposition was gay, and he carried 
his affability so far, that some persons considered him 
too familiar. His penetration was so quick, that a 
single word was sufficient to make him perceive the 
object and the end of a discourse addressed to him ; he 
enjoyed a good appetite, and slept regularly every 
night. One day in the Holy Week of the year 1774, 
at the conclusion of dinner, Clement XTV. felt, a great 
uneasiness of the cbest, stomach, and intestines, ac- 
companied with a chill. The first evil symptom 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 31 

which showed itself was a weakness of voice, indicat- 
ing some extraordinary kind of catarrh; in consequence 
of which it was resolved, that during divine service on 
Easter Day, the Pope's seat should be guarded against 
the cold air. Everybody present observed the change 
in his voice. An inflammation of the mouth and 
throat soon succeeded, and gave him a great deal of 
pain, obliging him to keep his mouth almost always 
open. Then followed vomitings at intervals, with 
excessive pains in the bowels, renal obstruction, and a 
gradual weakness in the body and legs ; so that he 
lost his sleep, and with it his alacrity in walking. He 
concealed these indications, though there is no doubt 
that he had resorted to the use of antidotes to the 
poison which he was persuaded had been adminis- 
tered to him. The Pope continued in this state during 
the months of May, June, and July, concealing the 
decay of his strength and his other symptoms, whilst 
a rumor was gaining ground that he could not long 
survive. Some persons went so far as to appoint the 
16th of July as the day of his death ; and after that 
time had passed over, October was fixed upon, in 
conformity with letters from Germany and other parts. 
" In July he began the use of medicinal waters, 
which it was his annual custom to drink. Itwas remark- 
ed that this year his usual eruption, an acrid humor, 
did not come to his relief, in sufficient abundance, till 
the beginning of August ; and he continued the habit 
of holding his mouth open, suffering also from weak- 
ness and the sore throat, together with excessive perspira- 
tions. He gave audiences to the ministers towards the 
end of August, notwithstanding the pain and feeble- 
ness occasioned by his illness, which had deprived him 
of his natural cheerfulness and affability ; so that it 
required the united force of a cultivated understanding 
and apious temper, to moderate the pressure of his 1 bodily 
infirmities, and to restore his habitual urbanity. At 
this juncture a letter was received by the Secretary 
for tin; "Affairs of Jesuits," from the Vicar-general 
of Padua, informing him that some ex-jesuits had 



32 SECRETS OF 

appeared before him, and had indulged in the most 
violent imprecations against the Pope, asserting that 
the month of September would terminate his existence. 

" An engraving was also published in Germany, 
exhibiting, on the left hand the figure of Death, with 
the likeness of Christ on a flag : on the right side 
was a staff, supporting a sort of tabernacle, in which 
was represented an ex-jesuit, dressed in the habili- 
ments of a secular priest. At the top were the letters 
IHS, and at the bottom, the inscription iSic finis erit ! 
Behold the end ! There were, besides, some German 
verses, declaring that although the Jesuits had been 
compelled to alter their dress, they never would 
change their opinions, and immediately afterwards, 
the following text from 1 Kings, xxxv. 18. — qVoD 
bonVM est, In oCVLIs sVIs faCIet. The letters 
printed in capitals, when joined together, give the 
number MDCCLVV Willi, 1774, the year in which 
Clement died. 

" A fever supervened to those symptoms. This 
happened on the evening of the J Oth September. It 
was accompanied by a sort of fainting, and an excess 
of debility, which seemed to threaten the speedy 
extinction of life. Ten ounces of blood were taken 
from him the same night, without any sign of inflam- 
mation ; nor did his breathing, his chest, nor his 
bowels, give any cause for alarm. The coagulation of 
the blood took place in a satisfactory manner, not- 
withstanding the declared opinion of his physician, 
that the complaint arose from a deficiency of serum, 
caused by the profuse perspirations he had undergone. 
He was free from fever on the morning of the 11th, 
and continued so during the whole day ; he had so 
much recovered on the 12th, that he took his usual 
walk on the 14th and 15th, and even thought himself 
equal to the fatigue of going to the Castel Gandolfo, 
where he seemed to enjoy the prospect of spending his 
time in the country, according to his custom at that 
season. 

"But on the 15th he relapsed into his former weak- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 33 

ness, to which was added a deep sleep, night and day, 
till the ISth, when he awoke for a few minutes. On 
the 19th it was perceived that he had fever, together 
with a swelling of the abdomen and retention of water. 
Some blood was taken from him, which, however, gave 
no sign of inflammation. Besides which, the bowels, 
when pressed, caused him no uneasiness, and his 
breathing and chest were perfectly unencumbered. 
An access of fever in the evening made it necessary 
to repeat the bleeding, and the same operation was 
renewed on the 20th, although the pulse had become 
softer, and the swelling had abated. But the inflam- 
mation returned in the evening, and the hope of his 
amendment had so far disappeared, as to make it appear 
proper to present him with the viaticum. 

" He passed a night of great agitation. On the 21st 
he was bled again. The fever, the swelling, and the 
retention still continued. At length the extreme unc- 
tion was administered to him that evening, and about 
half past seven o'clock, on the morning of the 22d 
September, 1774, he surrendered his soul into the 
hands of its Author. 

"About the same hour on the succeeding day, they 
proceeded to open and embalm the body, when the 
countenance was livid, the lips and nails were black, 
and the back had assumed a dark complexion. The 
abdomen was swelled, and the whole body emaciated, 
with a sort of cedar color approaching to the appear- 
and; of ashes, but which, nevertheless, allowed here 
and there to he seen some livid spots beneath the skin 
about the arms, the sides, and the lower extremities. 

" On dissection, it was discovered that inflammation 
and gangrene had commenced in the left lobe of the 
Lungs, adhering to the pleura; the opposite lobe was 
also inflamed. They were both loaded with blood ; 
and when the knife was put into them a sanguineous 
discharge took place. The pericardium was opened, 
and the heart was diminished in size by the total want 
of those humors which are found in that membrane. 
Beneath the diaphragm, (lie stomach and intestines 



34 SECRETS OF 

were in the last stage of mortification. The oesophagus 
was inflamed throughout its whole interior, as far as 
the pylorus and the small intestines, with an evident 
tendency to gangrene, as well as the upper and lower 
divisions of the stomach ; and all these parts, as well 
as the intestines, were covered over with a fluid which 
the physicians call black bile. The liver was small, 
and in its upper portion contained some particles of 
serum ; the gall-bag was unusually distended, and was 
observed to contain a great quantity of atrabilious fluid; 
a large deposit of lymph had also taken place in the 
cavity of the belly; the dura mater was swelled, but 
presented no remarkable appearance in itself, except 
that of flaccidity. The intestines and viscera were 
placed in a vase, which burst open about an hour after 
sunset, filling the chamber with an insufferable stench, 
notwithstanding the embalming had only been finished 
a kw hours before. On the next morning, 24th Sep- 
tember, it was considered necessary to call in a physi- 
cian ; he found the smell unabated, the countenance 
swelled and discolored, and the hands quite black. 
On the back of the hands bladders had risen as high 
as two fingers, running across each other, and filled 
with lixivial matter, as if blistered with some boiling 
or ardent fluid. 

"Besides this, a great quantity of serous humor, 
mixed with clotted blood, trickled down the lower side 
of the bed, and spread profusely over the floor. This 
circumstance very much surprised the professional 
attendants, especially considering that life had not been 
extinct four-and-twenty hours, and that every precau- 
tion had been resorted to, by cleansing the body and 
removing the viscera, as well as by embalming. It 
was consequently proposed to enclose the body in a 
coffin, but the master of the house suggested that such 
a step was likely to have a bad effect upon the public 
mind, and prevailed upon them to be satisfied with 
such means as their art afforded. The pontifical 
habiliments, when removed, carried away with them a 
large portion of the skin and even of the cutis. The 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 35 

thumb nail on the right hand was detached, and on 
trying the other, every person present was convinced 
that the slightest movement was sufficient to separate 
all the nails in succession. 

" In the dorsal region all the muscles were disunited 
and decomposed to such a degree, that towards the 
middle of the back and by the side of the spine, for 
the size of three fingers, there was found a large lump 
formed of the supercostal and intercostal muscles — on 
making two incisions the embalming was seen entire 
in the chest. 

"Except on the legs and thighs, a sort of breaking- 
out was observed all over the body. Various additional 
precautions were employed, and the incisions that were 
made caused a discharge of fluid which had the ap- 
pearance of bubbles. 

" It was also remarked, that a great part of the hair 
of the head had adhered to the pillow ; and, in short, 
notwithstanding the body was embalmed afresh, and 
every endeavor was made by the assistants, it was 
found absolutely necessary to enclose it, after its re- 
moval to St. Peter's, in spite of the suspicious caution 
with which the medical examiners expressed them- 
selves. Many of the circumstances here related were 
rumored throughout Rome ; and the people were 
shocked to the last degree, by the full persuasion that 
the Pope had been poisoned by means of the Acquetta, 
which is made in Calabria and Perugia, and which has 
the property of destroying life in the gradual manner 
I have described. 

"Intelligent persons compared together the various 
prophecies which had been set afloat. In addition to 
uliirh, we must bear in mind the false reports, the 
engravings, the threats, the internal commotion that 
seized Clement XIV., tin; inflammation of his throat 
ami mouth, the gradual decay of his strength, the chill, 
the swelling of the belly, the renal obstruction, the 
hoarseness, the vomitings, and. finally, the livid dis- 
coloration of the flesh and nails, the loss of their tena- 
city, and thai of Ins hair, the dry state of the heart, and 



SECRETS OF 



the other symptoms. After all these facts, it seems 
hardly conceivable that an inflammatory disorder, as 
the physicians named it, without some violent cause, 
should leave the blood without any indication of fever 
during nine successive days. Those persons thought 
themselves authorized in applying to the case of Cle- 
ment XIV. the distinguishing signs of poison, pointed 
out by Paul Zacchia, a celebrated Roman physician." 



CHAPTER II. 

Pius VI. elected Pope.— Ricci refuses to enter into the Prelacy.— Corres- 
pondence of Ricci with the last General of the Jesuits.— Trial of the 
ex-General, and his Protestations of Innocence.— Ricci appointed Vicar- 
General of the Archbishop of Florence.— Efforts of the Grand Duke 
Leopold for the diffusion of Knowledge, and the opposition of the See 
of Rome. 

Angelo Braschi ascended the pontifical throne 
upon the death of Ganganelli. He owed his fortune 
to the General of the Jesuits, who had obtained for him 
the situation of Treasurer of the Court of Rome, under 
the reign of Clement XIII. ; but he could not do any 
thing for the society, or its imprisoned chief. It is 
supposed that the Bourbon princes, before the dissolu- 
tion of the Conclave, obtained from him a promise to 
that effect. When it was discovered that he was on 
the eve of publishing a decree, by which he annulled 
all the acts and rescripts granted by the deceased Pon- 
tiff, on the ground that the weakness of his intellect 
afforded opportunities of abusing his signature, these 
courts took the precaution of having the Jive or six 
last months specified. By this means, they hindered 
the epoch of the Brief of Suppression from being com- 
prised in this measure, as might have been the case, 
if an indeterminate or too long a period had been 
named. 

Ricci went to Rome in 1 775, to attend to the rejoicing 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 37 

consequent on the exaltation of the new Pope. His 
relation to the ex-general, the friendship of the Tuscan 
cardinal, Torrigiani, who was devoted to the Jesuits, 
his reputation for moderation and impartiality, which 
he had attained by his prudence in not taking any part 
in a quarrel then so important, caused him to be re- 
quested to enter into the prelacy. He resisted the 
temptation, giving these reasons for his disinclination : 
" I saw the danger of such a career, and having well 
examined the intrigues and cabals of the Court of 
Rome, I perceived that no where so much as there, 
is the possibility of continuing to be an honest man 
incompatible with the idea of what is called making 
one's fortune, and rising to elevated situations. If any 
one has succeeded there in preserving his honor, and 
remaining a Christian, after having entered into the 
career of the prelacy, he is the rara avis in terris. 
I made a resolution not even to think of it. So great 
a horror had I conceived for the tricks and dissimula- 
tion which I sail) openly practised in the prelacy, that 
I could not conceal from my friends the disgust which 
I felt, at seeing the vileness and the courtier-like adu- 
lations to which they were compelled to debase them- 
selves." This is said by a zealous Roman Catholic, 
and a prelate. 

Ricci, during his stay at Rome, applied for liberty to 
see his confined relative ; but in vain. In the course 
of the interview which he obtained with the Pope, 
Pius VI. could not conceal his chagrin at the ecclesi- 
astical reforms carrying on by the House of Austria, 
and by Leopold. He then referred the matter of his 
requesi to Cardinal Girai id, who refused the required 
permission. But, in spite of all their precautions, 
Rieci el] i dived to carry on a correspondence with the 
General, by means of a soldier named Serafini, who 
was his guard; and, through his agency, he received 
from his unfortunate relatve a copy of his examination 
at the Castle of Angelo. These documents furnish 
authentic evidence of the pertinacity with which the 
last leader of that formidable body denied the crimes 
4 



38 SECRETS OF 

imputed to himself and his society. His imprisonment 
only terminated with his life. 

The death of the ex-General of the Jesuits took place 
at the Castle of Angelo, in November, 1775. His con- 
fidence in his relative Scipio de Ricci appears to have 
been unbounded, if we may judge from the duty which 
he imposed upon him by his dying wish, that Ricci 
would recommend him to the Almighty by as many 
masses as he could say, seeing that he was deprived of 
about 22,000, which would have been performed had 
he expired as General of the Society of Jesuits. 

After his visit to Rome, in 1775, Ricci returned 
to Florence. He had scarcely arrived, when he was 
made Vicar-General, and Yicar ad causas to the Arch- 
bishop Incontri. This prelate had been formerly an 
enemy to the Jesuits ; but of late years he was one of 
their party. About the time when Ricci was created 
Vicar-General, he had given the liberty to the suppress- 
ed Jesuits to preach and confess ; but their seditious 
behavior awoke the attention of the Government, and 
the Prince, by a letter to the bishops, adopted the cir- 
cular of Clement XIV., by which these duties had been 
forbidden to the Jesuits. 

In his new situation, Ricci soon displayed his Jan- 
senist principles. At that period Rome saw with great 
displeasure the Grand Duke applying himself entirely 
to encourage education, and to destroy the reign of ig- 
norance, which she had consolidated under her false 
pretensions. She opposed his views as much as she 
could ; endeavored to put down the obnoxious cate- 
chism of Colbert, to stop the printing of the Ecclesi- 
astical History of Racine, under the auspices of the 
Government ; and made efforts to check an edition of 
Machiavel. 

Among the services rendered by the Jansenists to 
philosophy, one of the most important was their con- 
tending for liberty of thought and writing. The pub- 
lication of those writings in Tuscany was a benefit, so 
far as it sapped the despotism of the priesthood, and 
was a victory over that redoubtable power, of which 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 39 

it was above all necessary to destroy the reputation of 
being invincible. A daring publication of Machiavel, 
that inflexible historian of the Popes and their court, 
whom Rome has particularly prohibited, and the free 
reading of whose works proved the contempt enter- 
tained of the Pontifical index — this act alone was a 
benefit to the world. 



CHAPTER III. 

Elevation of Scipio de Ricci to the Bishopric of Pistoia and Prato. — 
Discontent of the Pope at the Ecclesiastical Reforms of the Grand 
Duke Leopold.— Differences between the Civil and Spiritual Govern- 
ment of Tuscany, previous to the accession of Leopold. — The Senator 
Rucellai labors to free Tuscany from the despotism of the Court of 
Rome. — His Memoir on the famous Bull In Caena Domini. 

In 1780, the destiny of Ricci was changed by the 
death of Ippolite, Bishop of Pistoia. Ricci had no 
desire to undertake the labors of the Episcopal office, 
but he was in a manner forced to do so by his friends. 
He was received very flatteringly by the Pope, who, 
however, could not avoid repeating frequently: " Your 
Grand Duke will have to render an account to God, 
for so many of his actions which are hurtful to the 
Church." Ricci replied, " that, he hoped he should 
always enjoy from the Duke full protection in favor of 
religion, and that he did not believe him capable of 
doing any thing against the interests of the Catholic 
Church." But the Pope would not be persuaded, and 
added in a grave tone, " You are young, but in time 
you will see it !" and with these words he dismissed 
him. 

Before we proceed to the very curious and interest- 
ing details of the ecclesiastical abuses which Ricci was 
the great instrument in detecting, and of the reforms 
which he labored to establish, in opposition to the 
Court of Rome, amongst a corrupt and depraved 



40 SECRETS OP 

priesthood, it may assist the reader to collect, into one 
view, the History of the Ecclesiastical Reforms in 
Tuscany, which preceded the election of Ricci to the 
Bishopric of Pistoia and Prato. 

The Medici had always been very desirous of the 
friendship of the Court of Rome, and had made it the 
principal object of their ambition to possess influence 
with it. The election of the Popes, in their time, had, 
in consequence, almost always depended on the will 
of that family; and all the Catholic princes, who had 
any points of importance to carry with the See of 
Rome, regularly endeavored to secure its good -will. 
In return for that species of glory, the Medici permit- 
ted the Popes to exercise an extensive authority in 
Tuscany. 

The Emperor Francis followed the same course in 
the beginning of his reign ; but in a short time Count 
Richecourt was sent from Yienna, to put himself at the 
head of the Regency, and to govern Tuscany. Power- 
fully aided by Senator Rucellai, Secretary of the Juris- 
diction, or Rights of the Crown, a species of minister 
for affairs connected with the Catholic worship— a 
man distinguished for his learning, his integrity, his 
firmness, and his zeal for the Government — Richecourt 
resisted every attempt at usurpation on the part of the 
Court of Rome, and opposed without intermission its 
iniquitous pretensions. From that moment the two 
courts were at open war. 

The first rupture which took place between them 
arose from the acquisitions of property in mortmain, 
which had been strictly forbidden, without the express 
permission of Government, by a law published in 1751. 
The Counsellor of State, Pompee Neri, and Senator 
Rucellai, accompanied the publication of this law with 
instructions and explanations, in regard to the neces- 
sity of preventing an increase of the prosperity of arti- 
ficial families, meaning corporations, collegiate bodies, 
convents, <fcc. at the expense of natural families, or 
individuals, and the accumulation of wealth on the 
part of the clergy. 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 41 

These instructions and explanations, with the law 
alluded to, are in the archives of the Ecclesiastical 
Tribunal at Florence. 

This important measure, by means of which the 
insatiable cupidity of the priests was checked, was fol- 
lowed by an edict relating to the censorship of printed 
works, which the Government alleged ought to be sub- 
mitted to the inspection of the civil power, instead of 
the Inquisitor General of Religion, who, until this 
period, had possessed the exclusive management of 
that powerful engine for retaining the Tuscans in 
ignorance. 

To the complaints of Rome, the Regency of Tuscany 
replied by other complaints ; accusing the Florentine 
Inquisition of abusing its authority, and the Inquisitor 
at Pisa of having almost murdered a man, whom he 
had succeeded in passing off as a heretic, although he 
had only been guilty of preventing his daughter from 
yielding to the seductions of the Inquisitor. 

This event, with others of similar atrocity, induced 
the Emperor to order the prisons of the Inquisition to 
be shut, and to demand the consent of Rome to the 
addition of two lay assessors ; a measure which de- 
stroyed the inviolable secrecy hitherto maintained in 
regard to the proceedings of that dreadful tribunal, 
and deprived it of the means of continuing its iniqui- 
ties. 

The reluctant consent of Rome was also procured 
to the suppression of several convents of nuns by the 
Government. The Emperor, being desirous of dimi- 
nishing the excessive number of cures at Florence, on 
account of their inutility, their poverty, the indecency 
with which they were managed, the small number of 
parishioners, the short distance intervening between 
one church and another, and the great facility which 
they afforded to criminals of escaping from the arm of 
the law, ceased to nominate curates, and the parishes 
remained vacant. 

Such is the substance of a very luminous memoir, 
drawn up by Rucellai, on the differences with the 
4* 



>- 42 SECRETS OF 

Court of Rome. Mention is also made in it of the In- 
quisition, of which the Government had a short time 
before recognised the legality, upon condition that it 
should be organized on the same footing as at Yenice. 
That tribunal at Florence had established, without 
any privilege to that effect being conferred upon it, not 
only prisons but an armed police at the public expense ; 
and it succeeded easily, notwithstanding measures taken 
to prevent it, in eluding every restriction which was 
attempted to be put on its authority. This was accom- 
plished by means of a tacit understanding on the sub- 
ject between the Inquisitor and the Archbishop, who 
remitted to the nunciature thos,e cases of an inquisi- 
torial nature, of which they did not choose that the 
Government should take cognizance by means of its 
assessors. 

Piccolomini, Bishop of Pienza, pretending that he was 
subject to the Pope only, and not to the Emperor, had 
carried his extravagance so far as to excommunicate 
several of the officers of Government in his diocese, and 
among others, a communal chancellor of Pienza, Ruti- 
lus Gini. He had declared him liable to the censures 
of the Bull "In Coena Domini ;" and as he had at the 
same time expressly forbidden those priests who were 
under his authority, to administer to Gini any of the 
sacraments of the Church, so long as he should persist 
in, what the Bishop termed, "the public scandal of 
obeying the Government," he was, from his inability 
to obtain absolution, prevented also from marrying. 

After twelve years' endurance of his conduct, the 
Emperor had this prelate conducted to the frontiers of 
the Grand Duchy, under a guard of soldiers. Picco- 
lomini's turbulence caused him to be received with 
much distinction by the Pope, Clement XIII., who 
warmly embraced his cause, and permitted him, within 
his own states, to excommunicate the Emperor and all 
his ministers, and to post up the sentence in the usual 
places. 

There were also some differences between Tuscany 
and the Court of Rome, which arose out of certain 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 43 

places being considered as asylums to which criminals 
might repair for evading the punishment of the law. 
These asylums the Government had frequently been 
obliged to violate for the sake of public justice ; and 
the Court of Rome had promised to conclude a con- 
cordat in regard to them, upon condition that they 
should all be respected by the civil authorities during 
the time the negotiations were pending. The Govern- 
ment kept its promise ; but no progress was made in 
the negotiation, and the asylums were full of criminals. 

Such was the posture of affairs at the accession of 
Leopold to the Grand Ducal crown. Both parties 
were dreadfully exasperated. Tuscany looked upon 
Cardinal Torrigiani, Secretary of State, as an artful 
and faithless priest ; while Rome considered Rucellai 
as her mortal enemy. 

The measures adopted by Leopold, and the motives 
which induced him to become a reformer of the exter- 
nal worship and ecclesiastical discipline of his States, 
demonstrate that he laid down as the principle of all 
bis operations, an invariable resolution to separate dis- 
tinctly what was spiritual from what was temporal ; 
never to intermeddle with the former in any respect, 
and at the same time never to permit the clergy to in- 
terfere in the smallest degree with the latter. 

He was always willing to yield to the clergy in 
things which were strictly spiritual ; but at the same 
time he fully determined not to succumb to them in 
those which were not within their province. He wished 
that his bishops should apply directly to him in all 
their difficulties ; and showed himself ready to assist 
them to the utmost of his power, whenever a proper 
and useful end was in view. But they lost all claims 
to his protection, and even to his esteem, whenever 
they sought to interfere in matters belonging to the 
State, with which, he said, they had no concern. 

Senator Rucellai, who, previous to the accession of 
Leopold to the throne of Tuscany, appears to have 
been the tnosl consistent and determined enemy to the 
abuses of the Sec of Rome, drew up for the information 



SECRETS OF 



and guidance of his sovereign, several very important 
and interesting memoirs, not only on minute points of 
ecclesiastical discipline, but on the right of the spiritual 
power to interfere in matters of civil government. The 
most remarkable of these documents is that bearing 
date the 14th of July, 1769, in which Rucellai combats 
the pretensions of the Pope to interfere with the civil 
obedience of the priests, by the celebrated Bull In 
Ccena Domini. This memoir presents many points 
of peculiar interest to the whole Christian community ; 
particularly at this period, when attempts are making 
to revive that dominion of the Roman priesthood, which 
might have been expected to have been swept away in 
the great conflict of opinions which has marked the 
last forty years. 

Secretary Rucellai insists particularly upon the spirit 
which dictated that eternal monument of priestly am- 
bition, the Bull In Ccena, upon the consequences of its 
being put in execution in Tuscany, on the means of 
opposing it, and of resisting at the same time the at- 
tempts of the Court of Rome against the rights of the 
Crown. 

" A sovereign," says he, " owes it to his own dignity, 
and to justice, to defend both himself and his rights 
against the invasion of the Bull In Ccena, and his sub- 
jects against the evil consequences of the measures 
with which it threatens them." 

The foundation of the Romish authority is contained 
in the " Body of Canon Law," and especially in that 
part of it entitled " Pontifical Authority." It is com- 
posed of bulls, letters, and replies of the Popes, and of 
decrees of Assemblies of his Court, and is the instru- 
ment by means of which Rome is enabled to convert 
the priesthood into an engine for the attainment of its 
political views, even in the States of others. 

The Bull, known by the name, In Ccena Domini, 
is a summary of all those ecclesiastical laws, which 
tend to establish the despotism of the Court of Rome ; 
a despotism of many ages, which was watered with 
the blood of millions of human creatures, founded with 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 45 

the spoils of debased sovereigns, and raised on the ruins 
of overturned thrones. The principles of that Bull 
pervade, and are interwoven with, every part of the 
canon law, which is publicly taught in Romish semi- 
naries. 

The Bull In Carna was the origin of those scanda- 
lous differences between the priesthood and the Empire, 
which happened in the eleventh century ; differences 
totally unknown until the Church began to speak a 
language invented by the Court of Rome, in order to 
abuse with impunity the power of the keys, by means 
of the factions of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, which 
she brought forth and fostered. It was the origin also 
of the Inquisition, which it supported in its greatest 
enormities, of the crusades, of its censorships, inter- 
dicts, &c. &c. ; all these it employed, first to balance, 
and then to pull down the different powers of the 
Empire ; to strip it of one part of its States in Italy, 
and out of them to erect itself into a species of new 
monarchy. 

Sovereigns not tmfrequently deposed by their sub- 
jects, or rather by the subjects of the priesthood, and 
being incessantly threatened by fanatics who were de- 
voted to the Church, were compelled by necessity to 
trust their defence to the pens of civilians. Their 
rights were ably supported by Pierre Cugnree, Paris, 
Pierre des Vignes, Marsile of Padua, and Dante, of all 
of whom the Court of Rome found little difficulty in 
getting rid, by declaring them attainted and convicted 
of heresy — at that period, the most dreadful of all 
crimes. 

This attempt, which ended so unfortunately for its 
first promoters, was the origin and beginning of that 
religious reformation, which was finally adopted, with 
the exception of France, by every nation which was 
not inclined to remain in a state of slavery. The kings 
of France, who (headed ,-i reform, succeeded in avoid- 
ing it, by allowing then- subjects to be harrassed by 
those civil wars which Koine lighted up under the 
pretext of religion; by maintaining endless disputes 



46 SECRETS OF 

with her ; and at length by accepting a system of 
rights, professedly granted to them alone, under the 
name of the " Privileges of the French Church," 
which the Court of Rome abhors at heart fully as 
much as reform and heresy. 

Italy, where the love of political liberty had rendered 
the people almost vassals of the Court of Rome, which 
they defended against the Emperors, not because they 
thought its pretensions well founded, but because it 
defended them in its turn, with the only weapons 
which could be advantageously employed against 
those of the Empire, — excommunications and inter- 
dicts, — Italy was subjected to all the abuses arising 
out of the sacerdotal system. From the mercantile 
spirit which the Italians of those times considered as 
the main spring, both of political principles and events, 
they conceived themselves interested in supporting the 
Court of Rome in every measure and enterprise, how- 
ever unjust, in order to secure to it that supreme 
authority over the Catholic world, which attracted to 
them the riches and wealth of all Europe. 

Rome, considered in a political point of view, was 
at that period the bulwark of Italian liberty ; in a mer- 
cantile point of view, the source and cause of Italian 
prosperity. To maintain this character, it was neces- 
sary she should preserve her power, and this she could 
only do by means of the gross delusion of pontifical 
authority. 

Scarcely had the new Italian Governments been rid 
of all fear, in regard to their independence from abroad, 
than they began to dread encroachment on the part 
of the sacerdotal body, and changed immediately their 
system and their conduct. Without openly declaring 
their opposition to the intolerable pretensions of the 
Court of Rome, they endeavored to invalidate them by 
means of new laws, all passed about the same period, 
whose object was to restrain the papal authority, and 
the personal immunities of the clergy. 

To speak only of Tuscany. About that period, the 
bishops and the tribunals of the Inquisition were de- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 47 

pnved of their prisons and armed servants, and steps 
were taken to prevent the latter, as much as possible, 
from doing mischief. The power of the bishops was 
limited, and the court of Rome restrained from appoint- 
ing them according to her caprice. The temporal 
portion of the benefices became dependent on the pub- 
lic authority ; opposition was indirectly made to the 
too frequent transferance of property into the hands 
of the clergy, and measures were taken to subject any 
new acquisitions, which they might be enabled to 
make, to the same changes as other property similarly 
situated. 

This indirect method, however, of opposing the 
Court of Rome, was soon neutralized by men so well 
skilled in the art of invention. She brought forward 
what she termed " Ecclesiastical Privilege," — an ocult 
right, comprehending every pretension which Rome 
has put forth to the present time, or which she may 
wish to put forth in future. By means of this pre- 
tended right, it is impossible to imagine a single hu- 
man action, over which she may not exert her influ- 
ence and authority, if it is in any conceivable way 
connected with her interests. 

Every thing that was in the least degree inconsist- 
ent with, or contrary to this ecclesiastical privilege, 
either directly or indirectly, was from that moment 
comprised in the Bull In Ccena, and anathematized. 

In regard to the laws of which we have just spoken; 
the Court of Rome maintained that they were null 
and void, because they had not been passed by legiti- 
mate authority. The states in which they had been 
promulgated were excommunicated, laid under an in- 
terdict, and attacked by the temporal forces of the 
reigning pontiffs, or by the subjects of other States, 
whom the Court of Rome had armed against their so- 
vereigns, because these sovereigns had ordered the 
laws passed in favor of their subjects to be put in 
force. 

Rome extended in this way its despotic authority 
over all the States of Italy, and in a special manner 



48 SECRETS OF 

over the Republic of Florence, until it adopted the 
system pursued by the Spanish civilians. These au- 
thorities, taking the pretensions of the Court of Rome 
for what they were, without any examination of their 
merits, guarded the Government against any abuse 
which might result from them, by demanding that 
every order or prohibition, and, generally speaking, 
every writing or document emanating from that court, 
whether of a spiritual or temporal nature, should be 
subjected to a censorship. It was the duty of the cen- 
sors to examine whether they were contrary to any 
existing law of the State, and to take care that they 
should not become binding until, with due consent 
from the sovereign, they had been lawfully published 
in his dominions. 

The necessity of the Exequatur, or legal publica- 
tion, is the basis of the jurisdiction and rights of the 
Crown, in every state where the Roman religion pre- 
vails ; and if the law were strictly executed, and 
every infraction of it regularly punished, the power 
of Rome would cease to be a subject of alarm 3 as well 
as a source of mischief. 

The Court of Rome was the first to perceive the 
consequences which would necessarily result from en- 
forcing this law, and consequently to condemn it. It 
declared all those who ordered its execution, or who 
should execute it themselves, to be under the censures 
of the Bull In Coma ; but even this produced not 
the desired effect, and Rome was obliged to tolerate 
the existence of the Exequatur. 

All its cunning is now employed in endeavoring to 
elude it, which it sometimes does, even in the case of 
the most enlightened Governments. The Govern- 
ment ought, consequently, to be always on its guard, 
in order to detect its attempts, and to restrain the 
clergy who abet them. 

The difficulty lay in finding out in what way those 
who transgressed the law of the Exequatur should be 
punished. Extra-judicial and summary punishments 
would be unjust, because they savor so much of arbi- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 40 

trary authority, which forms no part of a sovereign's 
rights. 

Besides summary judgments are forcible means, 
which the stronger party employs against the weaker, 
because he cannot proceed against him in a legal 
manner ; or, because those against whom he puts them 
in practice, are not liable to the operation of the law. 
Rucellai consequently does not judge it prudent to al- 
low, even tacitly, that the clergy are in either of these 
predicaments ; as its only effect would be to render 
the clergy more interesting and venerable in the eyes 
of the people, and to augment its authority by a dimi- 
nution of that of the sovereign. 

Rucellai was desirous that the priests should be 
punished as transgressors of the national laws, and 
that their obedience to the Bull In Coma should 
cease to operate as an excuse for them ; not because it 
was not published with the Exequatur, for it has been 
published every where, is still published, and its prin- 
ciples taught in the schools, and inculcated, on peni- 
tent by their confessors, but because it was demon- 
stratively unjust, subversive of all the rights of sove- 
reignty, of law, of good order, and of public tranquil- 
lity. 

The priests who are the principal executors of the 
Bull /// Ccsna in the penitentiary chair, are only per- 
mitted to decide according to the orders of their Bish- 
op. The Bishop, in his turn, is only an instrument of 
the ( '"i i it of Rome, and the wretched slave of her ca- 
price ever since she succeeded, by means of false de- 
cretals, in changing into an oath of fidelity and vas- 
salage, that profession of faith which is made before 
being admitted a member of the Church. 

That oath is, in fact, a solemn promise, not only to 
be unfaithful /<> one's lawful sovereign, but even to be- 
tray him, as often as the interests of the Court of 
Rome nun/ render it necessary. 

Governments, by allowing such an oath to be taken, 
thereby recognise it as obligatory. 

The priests who observe it, by putting in force the 



50 SECRETS OF 

Bull In Ccena, and refusing absolution to those who 
violate it, or who do not repent of having violated it, 
are rebels to the Government of their country, which 
has proscribed it ; those who do not observe it, are ne- 
cessarily perjured. 

If the priests who have to decide between such dis- 
agreeable alternatives are objects of pity, much more 
so are those people deserving of compassion, who con- 
sider it their duty to surrender their judgment into the 
hands of their pastor. 

Rucellai proposes, as a remedy for all these contra- 
dictions, to consider the Bull In Ccena as an unjust 
civil law, enacted by the Pope, which he would wil- 
lingly put in force in the dominions of other sove- 
reigns, and to forbid its direct or indirect publication. 

It appeared preferable to Rucellai, that, by a decla- 
ration on the part of the ecclesiastical power itself, 
both the priests and their hearers shoi.ld be freed 
from the obligation, in foro conscientia?, of observing 
the Bull ; but such a declaration could only emanate 
from the Pope, who would never make it, unlefFhe 
were compelled to it by an union of all the Catholic 
Governments ; or, unless he saw clearly, that it was 
as much his interest to annul it, as it was formerly his 
interest to establish it, in despite of religion and every 
thing that was sacred. 

In the mean time, it will be necessary, says Rucel- 
lai, to adhere to the proposed law, which may be com- 
municated to the Court of Rome, in order that it may 
prevent its publication by the only means in its power, 
the abrogation of the Bull. In the event of adopting 
this plan, it will be necessary to convince the Court of 
Rome that Government has taken its determination, 
and that no negotiation or species of treaty can take 
place on the subject," 

The order of the Grand Duke to suppress entirely 
the Bull In Cama Domini, and the command never 
to mention it in future in Tuscany, became the law 
of the land. But this law, before it could be brought 
into full force, had to be frequently renewed. In a cir- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 51 

cular letter of the Secretary of Jurisdiction, addressed 
to the bishop of Pistoia, Ricci's predecessor, in 1772, 
it is asserted that the Government had been apprised 
of the Bull In Cana, proscribed in every Catholic 
state, being still affixed to the sacristies and confes- 
sionals of some churches of the Grand Duchy, and 
of some* persons having had the hardihood to publish 
it from the pulpit or the altar, during the holy week. 

An anecdote relating to this Bull will illustrate the 
retrogression which every pretended restoration causes 
in the people under the dominion of arbitrary legiti- 
macy. 

"In 1815, Ruffo, Archbishop of Naples, a relation 
of Cardinal Ruffo, published a list of reserved cases, 
among which were infractions of the Bull In Ccena 
Domini. Ferdinand IV. having been informed of this 
violation of the laws of the kingdom, ordered his mi- 
nister for ecclesiastical affairs to cause the list of re- 
served cases to be suppressed by the Cardinal whose 
name it bore, and to reprimand in severe terms the 
monk who had drawn the prelate by his perfidious 
counsels into such an act of disobedience, threatening 
him at the same time with banishment from the Nea- 
politan territory, if he attempted again to disturb the 
public tranquillity. The minister, in executing the 
orders of his sovereign, employed one of his principal 
assistants, Luc Cagnazzi, a priest and archdeacon, to 
write to Cardinal Ruffo. 

After the fall of the Neapolitan constitutional Gov- 
ernment, when Ferdinand had been restored a third 
time to the plenitude of his sovereign good pleasure, 
Luc Cagnazzi was stripped of his office, solely because 
agreeably to the instructions of the minister, who 
only obeyed his sovereign, he had composed the letter 
in question : his dismissal was demanded by the Car- 
dinal. 

We have given this abstract of Rucellai's memoir, 
because the Bull In Ccena is actually invoked by the 
Court of Rome ; because it regards it as still existing 
in full force, and because it grants to its ministers, 



52 SECRETS OF 

even now y power to absolve those who might be weak 
enough to believe that they had incurred its penalties. 
Rucellai adds, that all that he has proposed is merely 
a precautionary measure ; and that the sole political 
purpose of every measure relating to religious juris- 
diction ought to be to put the clergy on a level with 
the laity, in as far as relates to the duties of citizens, 
and to abolish all their immunities, both real and per- 
sonal ; and while that end remains unaccomplished, 
there will always be "a State within the State," and 
an everlasting source of controversy and dispute. 

In order to attain sooner and more certainly this 
end in Tuscany, all the inferior prelates possessing 
jurisdiction, such as abbots, priors, guardians of con- 
vents, &c, should be obliged to exhibit their election- 
patents, to obtain their confirmation by Government, 
which should keep them as much within its control as 
possible. They should be subjected, as well as the 
bishops, to an oath of fidelity which should bring 
both them and their jurisdiction within the immediate 
influence of the civil authority. By the adoption of 
these measures, there will be nothing to dread from 
those prisons, which can scarcely be refused to seve- 
ral religious orders, and which are tolerated by the 
State. The special point is to prevent them from pos- 
sessing clandestine prisons, which would be infinitely 
worse than allowing them legal ones ; or permitting' 
them to elude the prohibition to possess them, by any of 
those equally criminal means, which their immorality 
may suggest to them. In the present state of things, 
the superiors of certain orders, which hold a middle 
rank between cynicism and stoicism, make frequently 
a very bad use of their prisons, concerning which no 
regulation has been made by the civil authority, and 
which they nevertheless cannot do without, because 
reason alone is insufficient to secure to them a proper 
degree of respect. It is therefore an indispensable 
duty of the Government to keep a watchful eye on 
these prisons, in order to insure the safety of those in- 
dividuals who are obliged to live under a despotism, 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 53 

more uncontrolled and absolute than that of an Afri- 
can tyrant. 

The oath which must be required of them is only 
the means of recalling to the minds of the priests who 
take it, their natural duties as citizens — duties which 
are born with them, and from which the ecclesiastical 
profession which they have since adopted, cannot 
emancipate them. The oath must be so clear as that 
those who conscientiously believe it their duty to ob- 
serve the Bull In Ccena, may refuse to take it, and 
also to accept the bishopricks and preferments which 
can only be obtained by taking it. 

The sacerdotal power will remain invulnerable as 
long as those who exercise it believe that they have a 
right to be distinguished by peculiar privileges and 
immunities from their fellow-citizens. Every thing 
which reduces them to a level with the laity, dimin- 
ishes in the mind of the public the idea of«,their in- 
dependence, and consequently destroys what is in re- 
ality the true basis of Romish grandeur. The oath 
by which they will be bound will certainly produce 
that effect, and will besides furnish a strong ground 
for proceeding against them in case of their infringing 
the law. 

The Court of Rome will oppose the taking of the new 
oath ; and perhaps go so far as to prohibit its being 
taken ; allow the bishopricks to remain vacant, and by 
that means render the administration of the sacraments 
more unfrequent and more difficult; but she will in 
that case have to contend with the whole body of 
priests, whose preferment and increase of revenue, the 
only /hiii 'j really interesting to them, it may have 
been the means of checking. If the Court of Rome 
can once be convinced thai the Government is deter- 
mined not to yield in the struggle, nor even not to en- 
ter upon any negotiation for trie purpose of accommo- 
dating matters, from which, by means of her usual 
chicanery, she could hope to obtain any advantage ; 
she will give up the point, lest she should lose the 
whole of her rights in endeavoring to preserve a part 
5 # 



r,4 SECRETS OF 

of them. From the moment that she takes such a step, 
the promises which her clergy may make to her, will 
appear to them only obligatory in so far as they are not 
in opposition to the oath which they had taken to Go- 
vernment with the consent of Rome herself. 

During the live centuries that Romanists have been 
governed by pontifical authority, the Court of Rome 
has employed all the means in her power to fix as an 
irrevocable principle, that " the clergy are not under 
the authority of the State in which they reside," and 
that they are the subjects of Rome alone, in as far as 
relates to their persons and property. She never will 
dare to avow such a principle openly; all that she re- 
quires is, that the clergy on whom she inculcates that 
belief should be fully persuaded of its truth. They, on 
their part, pride themselves upon avowing themselves in 
public the subjects of Government, whenever i t suits their 
interest to profess it — that is, whenever they are desirous 
either of bread or of honors. Rome, on her part, can- 
not condemn the oath which is proposed, on the score 
of novelty ; for it has been taken in France and in 
other countries : nor can she condemn it on the score 
of its being imposed upon individuals who are not sub- 
ject to the general laws of the kingdom ; for such a 
proposition would be odious in the extreme, and rouse 
the attention, even of the most careless Governments, 
to such unheard-of impudence and audacity, especially 
at a time which is by no means favorable to any usur- 
pation on the part of Rome. 



FEMALE COXVENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Anxiety of the Grand-duke to procure information on the abuses of the 
Church. — Letter from Villensi, pointing out some necessary changes. — 
Letter from a Nun, complaining of the irregularities of her Convent. — 
Memoir of Rucellai, on the scandalous conduct of a Confessor. — Men- 
dicant Priests. — Abolition of the privileges of Sanctuaries. — Letter of 
Rucellai on the abuses of the Religious Orders. 

The vigilant attention of Leopold to ecclesiastical 
abuses in his dominions, was kept alive by the com- 
munications which he invited and received from pri- 
vate persons. 

Villensi, Friar of Santo V-ito, addressed to the Grand- 
duke, in 1768, a letter, in which he suggests the best 
means of diminishing the abuses which disgraced the 
religious system. 

He requests his Royal Highness to keep his name 
secret unless he wishes him to run the risk of being 
stoned to death. He proposes the extirpation of men- 
dicity amongst the priesthood, which would render the 
people more active and industrious. The most vigor- 
ous and robust of the mendicants, says the Prior, might 
be sent to work in the marshes, and the lame and in- 
firm deposited in houses of seclusion, for the main- 
tenance of which, the convents ought to pay what they 
formerly disbursed, if we may believe them, in the way 
of charities. 

He complains of the insults offered to the Councils 
of the ('lunch by the numerous hulls and briefs which 
are constantly manufactured in the Datary's oilice at 
Rome, in favor of all who pay for them ; and quotes, 
among other examples, the permission, contrary to the 
regulations passed by the Council of Trent, of saying 
I tefore the age of twenty-five ; that of contracting 
marriages within the prohibited degrees, &c. &c. 

With regard to the Convents, it was his wish that 
their excessive wealth should be employed for the be- 
nciit of the State, and the support of the indigent; that 
the 300 crowns per annum which the carriage of (be 



5C SECRETS OF 

Abbot cost, with the money expended on his domes- 
tics and furniture, should be appropriated to the use of 
the hospitals ; that the monks should no longer go out, 
except in company with some one of their order, under 
pain of banishment ; and that they should be prohi- 
bited from transacting the business of their establish- 
ments, and be released from the necessity of holding 
any intercourse with the laity, either male or female, 
in buying or selling ; and that a secular person attach- 
ed to the convents ought to be intrusted with the ma- 
nagement of these matters, so as to allow the monks to 
devote their attention to the rules of their order. For 
the same reason, the monks should be released from 
the spiritual care of souls, which continually dis- 
tracts their attention from the duties of their pro- 
fession. They must also be prohibited from either 
demanding or accepting, from the Court of Rome, 
brevets or privileges which drain their purses, and au- 
thorize them to violate their by-laws. Superfluity of 
every kind ought to be banished from the churches 
and sacristies, the simplicity of religion only demand- 
ing what is absolutely necessary for the proper per- 
formance of its rites. The importunate and scan- 
dalous crowds of begging friars ought to be sup- 
pressed ; the visits of generals, vicar-generals, pro- 
vincials and inspectors, which have always been a 
great source of expense, and have never given rise to 
the least reform, prohibited; and no one allowed to 
make profession in any order, except at a very 
advanced age. 

It would also be highly proper to suppress six or 
eight convents of nuns, there are more than sixty in 
Tuscany, and apply the funds arising from them to 
the maintenance of the poor. Those which remain 
ought to be governed by a layman, that their re- 
venues, which are constantly augmenting by addi- 
tional portions, may not decrease. It would be even 
more useful to dispose of the property of the female 
convents, and lo form it into a bank ; which, after 
paying twenty per cent, to government, would afford 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 57 

them the two per cent, which they were in the habit 
of drawing from it. 

The Prior complains bitterly of the great number of 
priests resident in Florence, who neither knew, nor 
could do anything beyond saying a mass ! Want. 
says he, compels them to employ themselves as inten- 
dants and preceptors in large families, to buy, to sell, 
to manage the domestic affairs of their masters ; to 
conduct their children to the promenade, and even to 
take charge of a stable at so much per month, as if 
they were grooms ; all in the hope of obtaining a 
benefice from the family by which they are employed. 
The proper method of remedying such disgraceful 
practices, is to refuse benefices to all those who had 
descended to such degrading services. The poorer 
priests might be allowed to confess the nuns, after the 
monks had been deprived of the office, and they would 
gain by that means what the latter were in the habit 
of receiving for it 1 Those ecclesiastics who are con- 
stantly in pursuit of honors and dignities ; who busy 
themselves in intrigues to obtain them, and then 
recruit themselves from the fatigues of their despicable 
intrigues in places of public amusement ; might under- 
take, gratis, the administration of hospitals, visit them 
for the purpose of seeing that the duties were properly 
discharged, &c. This would be a great saving to 
these useful establishments, and a subject of noble 
emulation for the young priests, who would thereby 
be led to consider the practice of virtue and zeal in the 
can Je of beneficence, as the only way of accomplishing 
their desires. 

The scandal which arises from those priests, de- 
nominated coachmen, and postilions, &c., from their 
saying muss as if they were running post, and who 
ore constantly in a hurry to go from one church to 
another, in order to do as much business as possible, 
ought to be ended. The sacristies might also be served 
by laymen, which would diminish the useless and 
frightful number of clerks of (lie lower classes ; who, 
like the two hundred clerks of the Metropolitan 



53 SECRETS OF 

Church, waste their time till the age of twenty-five, 
without learning any thing, and then get themselves 
consecrated as a reward for their pretended services. 
People would not then make it a subject of remark, 
that Florence, out of a population of 80,000 inhabit- 
ants, maintained 3000 priests, whilst out of a popula- 
tion of 400,000 at Vienna, there are only 300. The 
theatres, coffee-houses, and other places frequented by 
monks, would also be less encumbered with their 
presence. 

He is also anxious that the Archbishop of Florence 
should keep a watchful eye on the tax-office for bulls 
and benefices, in order to put an end to every thing in 
the shape of arbitrary impositions, by means of an 
invariable rate for each act of grace. 

He demands a reform of the festivals. By transfer- 
ring the observance of the festivals to the Sunday fol- 
lowing the day on which they are held, twenty-five 
days more labor could be performed in the course of 
the year ; and the twenty vigils, which occasion such 
an enormous expense, would be suppressed ; while the 
festivals would be more decently observed. 

The other letter to the Grand Duke exhibits, in a 
singular manner, the enormities committed in the 
female convents through Tuscany. It was addressed 
to Leopold by a nun of Castiglion Fiorentino ; and 
led the way to those investigations of the scandalous 
abuses, by which Ricci subsequently rendered his 
ecclesiastical career so remarkable. 

" Our convent/' she says, "is under the direction of 
the Minor Observatines, and is consequently in a 
state of the greatest irregularity and disorder. The 
superior and the old nuns confine themselves entirely 
to their cells, and occupy themselves in various em- 
ployments, without paying the least attention to 
what goes on between the other nuns and those 
persons who have the privilege of admission within 
the walls of the cloister. I had for a long time ob- 
served that the factor of the convent carried on in- 
trigues with the young nuns, and that his intercourse 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 59 

with one of them was indecent in the extreme. In 
order, however, not to form too hasty and unjust a 
judgment of them, I concealed myself in a neighboring 
apartment, and discovered that they were in the habit 
of committing the most indecent actions. Since that 
time, whenever the factor makes his appearance, I 
always remain, under pretence of age, being nearly 
fifty, below with my work, and walk backwards and 
forwards, in order not to allow him an opportunity of 
being alone with the nuns. The Abbess was the 
means of engaging that factor, which she did almost 
by force, against the opinion of others who thought 
him too young. She is very angry with me, and will 
certainly not fail to punish me in some way or other. 

" I cannot complain to the Provincial ; for the 
monks will not listen to any complaints of the kind. 
Their answer uniformly is, when any are made, that 
they proceed from malignity and calumny ; while 
those who speak to them concerning them, are declared 
to be foolish, scandalous, and turbulent persons, who 
spy the actions of others, who do not behave like true 
nuns, and who ought to be imprisoned, &c. The 
nuns are therefore obliged either to allow such enor- 
mous irregularities to go unchecked, or to run the 
risk of imprisonment for life, under some false pretext. 
No one cares whether a nun remains alone with the 
factor. If any amusement is going forward, the factor 
is invited to the convent, where he shuts himself up in 
a room with one of them, and sometimes with two, if 
they are intimate with him. 

" The monks, to insure themselves against dislike 
on the part of the nuns, overlook the whole; for our 
confessor, who is always selected from that body, is 
supported by the nuns, who must supply him with 
every thing which he desires, during the lime that he is 
obliged to occupy a dwelling in the neighborhood of 
the convent. Finding themselves well provided with 
every thing which they want, these monies do not give 
themselves the least trouble about the abuses which 
prevail in the convents. There are even some of them 



GO SECRETS OF 

who make love to the nuns, and render them much 
more impudent than the lay members who are guilty 
of the same practices. Some years ago, a monk was 
found in the convent during the night, and expelled 
from it by the bailiffs. The affair, in consequence, 
became universally known." 

The nun is of opinion, that the case of the factor 
was much more blameable, inasmuch as his duties 
provided him with constant opportunities of sinning. 
She therefore supplicates the Grand Duke to order a 
nobleman, on whom the factor was dependent, to recall 
him to Florence, without allowing it to appear that he 
was at all acquainted with the irregularity of his con- 
duct: "For," says she, "if what J." now write to you 
were known, it would be sufficient to cause me to be 
poisoned by my companions, who are totally given up 
to vice." She requests the prince to speak to the pro- 
vincial, and to tell him, that "if she is punished under 
any pretext whatever, he will take from him the 
direction of the convent, and transfer it to the bishop." 

The above letter is dated May, 1770, from the con- 
vent of Jerome, at Castiglion Fiorentino, and signed 
Lucrece Leonide Beroardi. 

Leopold dismissed the factor. 

The scandalous wickedness of some members of 
the priesthood, under the cloak of religion, and by a 
perversion of its authority, was known to the grand 
duke in 1766. Senator Rucellai then addressed to his 
Prince a memoir relating to the intrigues of the Tus- 
can Inquisitors, of the higher orders of the clergy of 
the Grand Duchy, of the Nunciature at Florence, and 
of the Court of Rome ; all of whom labored in concert 
to elude the wise laws of the late Emperor. 

A lady of the name of Maria Catherine Barni, of 
Santa Croce, declared on her death-bed that she had 
been seduced through the medium of confession, and 
that she had, during twelve years, maintained a crimi- 
nal intercourse with a priest, Pierre Pacchiani, Prior 
of St. Martin at Castel-Franco-di-Sotto, who was her 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 61 

confessor. She denounced him to the Bishop of 
Miniato. May, 1764. 

He had assured her that, by means of the super- 
natural light which he had received from Jesus and 
the Holy Virgin, he was perfectly certain that neither 
of them were guilty of sin in carrying on that corres- 
pondence. 

Maria Magdalen Sicini, of Santa Croce, whom she 
had pointed out as being in the same predicament 
with herself, deposed; that generally about an hour 
after the confession was over, Pacchiani had a crimi- 
nal intercourse with her in the vestry; that she knew 
well enough that she was committing sin, and that she 
made confession of it afterwards to Pacchiani himself, 
who excused her because it had been done with good 
intentions. 

This lady named another, Vict.oire Benedetti, who, 
at her examination, made a declaration to the same 
effect ; only adding, that she had not had the least 
scruple in regard to her connexion with Pacchiani. 

The trial of that priest for heretical propositions 
belonged properly to the Inquisition ; but, after much 
intrigue and manoeuvring, the affair got into the hands 
of the Archbishop; next into those of the Nuncio; 
then into those of the Court of Rome; and Pacchiani, 
who had been dismissed, finally returned to his parish. 

The Government was made perfectly acquainted 
with the whole transaction ; but in such a way as to 
be unable to take any notice of it. It was also aware 
that Pacchiani had been guilty of several disgraceful 
tricks; that he was in the habit of compelling the 
dying to make wills in his favor, by threats of refusing 
i<> ;m I mil lister the sacraments; that he had used his 
endeavors to prevent Barni from making any confes- 
sion on her death-bed; that his Bishop had been 
obliged to imprison him, in order to remove him from 
B (-.invent of nuns ; and that he had delivered from the 
pulpit ;i discourse full of sedition. The Grand Duke 
caused him to be dismissed. 

The Bcandal brought on the doctrines and professors 
6 



62 SECRETS OF 

of religion, by the wretchedness and demoralization of 
the mendicant priests, was brought before the Grand 
Duke by Rucellai, in 1766. He replied to the in- 
quiries of his sovereign, by detailing various consider- 
ations, as to the best means of diminishing the exces- 
sive number of those wandering drones, who, without 
either nomination or benefice, swarmed in Tuscany, 
and especially at Florence, on account of the college 
or seminary of the cathedral. That seminary was 
composed of a hundred and thirty young men, who 
were employed in the service of the church, and of 
whom no fewer than sixty-six were annually conse- 
crated, as a reward for their services. Rucellai was 
of opinion that a diminution of the number of young 
men in the seminary, would give rise to a great out- 
cry, and would fail in accomplishing the end in view. 
It is the patrimony of the Church which we must 
diminish, says he, if we wish to diminish the number 
of those who live by it ; and who would become dis- 
ciples of Mohamed, if the revenues which they enjoy 
were appropriated to Mussulmans. A diminution of 
the wealth of the clergy, under existing circumstances, 
was altogether impossible, without a complete over- 
throw of the political system. To fix it definitively in 
such a way as to prevent its increase, appeared to him 
extremely difficult, on account of the tendency of 
every body of men towards prosperity, and more espe- 
cially of every sacerdotal body ; it being but too true, 
that superstition and wealth go hand in hand together. 

The only part of this measure which could have 
been easily executed, was prohibiting the priests from 
accepting additional foundations for perpetual masses, 
which they increased in number by every pious fraud 
which they could devise. These foundations infected 
Florence, more than any other place, with the refuse 
of the clergy, who were attracted from the neigh- 
boring dioceses by the profits arising from the masses. 

There was also another method of accomplishing 
the object in view ; to unite all the simple benefices 
and obligations, &c, upon which the useless part of 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 63 

the clergy lived, and who, in this way, would soon 
have disappeared ; but the consent of Rome was 
necessary to the adoption of that measure ; and it 
would, undoubtedly, have refused to co-operate in the 
execution of a plan contrary to its policy, prejudicial 
to its finances, and destructive of its authority. 

The Senator concludes by giving it as his opinion, 
that it would be much better to make use of the means 
already at the disposal of Government, — which, 
though they might be slow in accomplishing- the end 
in view, would attain it much more certainly and 
quietly ; — considering always the increasing wealth of 
the clergy as an evil necessarily connected with the 
present system — as a malady inseparable from the 
political body. For this purpose it will be necessary, 
says he, to oppose, both constantly and vigorously, 
that maxim of the Church, so contrary to the Gospel, 
to the Councils, and to the writings of the Fathers, 
" that the Church forms a State within the State ;" to 
treat the persons and property of ecclesiastics in the 
same way as the persons and property of other 
citizens ; to return to those Christian times, during 
which the property of the Church was considered as 
public property, belonging to the State, and entirely at 
the disposal of the civil authority. The clergy and 
their property were not more dangerous to the State, 
than other wealthy persons and their property ; be- 
eanse they were then undistinguished by any pre- 
rogatives, privileges, or immunities. Rucellai coun- 
Beffed Leopold to put his authority in force ; to exercise 
a real jurisdiction over his clergy, by exercising it 
over their property ; to prevent the augmentation of 
their territorial wealth, by applying the law of the late 
Emperor, concerning the acquisition of property in 
mortmain, which had already restored much land to 
commerce and circulation ; to keep the clergy in 
check by the dread of extra-judicial and summary 
sentences of banishment and sequestration against 
their persons and revenues; and to avoid endless and 
fatal quarrels with the Court of Rome. 



64 SECRETS OF 

One of the greatest abuses of the power of the 
Church in Tuscany, and the most shameful obstacle 
to the progress of civil justice, was the number of 
asylums reputed sacred, whose privileges had filled 
the churches of Tuscany with vagabonds and disturb- 
ances. The Grand Duke was perfectly aware of his 
right and authority to abolish this abuse, without the 
consent or intervention of any one ; but he was willing 
to concede, and proposed a concordat, which should 
confer upon him the same privileges which had been 
bestowed on the other Catholic powers, or the adoption 
of some provisional measure. He was determined not 
to suffer any longer, in his dominions, disorders which 
Rome herself, notwithstanding her desire to protect 
them in those of others, would not tolerate in her 
own ; and which, being beneficial to criminals only, 
were a disgrace both to religion and to the Govern- 
ment. A memoir of Rucellai, of 1764, shows that 
Tuscany was completely filled with churches. Flo- 
rence alone reckoned 320, of which the farthest from 
one another were not above 300 paces ; they occupied 
one half of the ground which had been built upon in 
the town, and had enjoyed for more than 163 years 
all the privileges granted by the Bulls of the different 
Popes. 

Leopold caused the reflections which Rucellai had 
made on the concordats concluded by Rome, relative 
to asylums, with Naples in 1741, with Sardinia and 
Piedmont in 1742, and with Austria for the states of 
Lombardy in 1757, to be submitted to his considera- 
tion. The inconveniences of those concordats, and of 
every concordat whatsoever, by means of which the 
Court of Rome succeeded in procuring from sovereigns 
a recognition of the legality of the pretended rights 
which are the object of the treaty, are clearly pointed 
out in that document. Rucellai preferred to these 
different concordats, the scheme of a provisional regu- 
lation presented by the Abbe Neri. 

That scheme, which received Leopold's consent did 
not admit of the inviolability of the asylums in any 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 65 

case whatever ; but provided for the remission of 
capital and mutilating- punishments, in the case of 
those who might be taken from the asylums; and also, 
for the remission of a third part of every other punish- 
ment of a lesser degree. By this means the objection 
was removed which existed in regard to the exceptions 
and explanations admitted in the concordats ; excep- 
tions of which the tortuous policy of the Court of 
Rome, which decided upon them, enabled her always 
to take advantage, and of which she never permitted 
any one to foresee the intention. 

The abolition of capital punishments would certainly, 
says Rucellai, have displeased those who work upon 
punishment as the basis of all government, and the main 
spring of every political system. Neri observes that 
capital punishments had been dispensed with in several 
States, without the least inconvenience ; and that it is 
the certainty of punishment and not the measure of it, 
which restrains mankind within the line of their duty, 
and checks the commission of crime. 

The Grand Duke, in consequence, gave orders to 
Baron Odilc, his minister at Rome, to commence nego- 
tiations on this subject with zeal and promptitude, and 
not to rest satisfied either with the words, or the dila- 
tory and uncertain promises, with which that court 
always colors its refusals. The reiterated orders and 
numerous couriers of Leopold could not, however, get 
any thing satisfactory from the Cardinal Secretary of 
State, to whom he caused it to be announced, that if 
he would not condescend upon a clear and categorical 
answer, he was determined to proceed with it. 

The court of Rome in spite of the continued remon- 
strances of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, evaded for 
several years any settlement of the question of asylums. 
Leopold at last determined to act for himself; and the 
year L769 was remarkable for the great reform intro- 
duced by him, which at length restored to Justice both 
the strength and the liberty which she required for the 
prevention of crime, by the salutary terrors of unavoid 
able punishment, and re-established order and security 
6* 



66 SECRETS OF 

in his States, under the protection of impartial laws, 
which allowed neither privilege nor exemption. 

The Grand Duke who had communicated to the 
Court of Austria the documents which related to the 
differences existing between him and the Pope in 
regard to asylums, and the plan which he had formed 
for repairing the mischief which the inviolability of 
these refuges had engendered, received the approbation 
of the Empress ; and consequently, he informed the 
Court of Rome, that he had caused the malefactors in 
his dominions to be taken from the asylums and 
immured in prisons. 

On the same day his plan was put in execution at 
Florence, at Sienna, and at Grosseto, and the next day 
in the rest of the Grand Duchy. 

Leopold, surrounded with the most learned and 
enlightened persons in Tuscany, and well skilled 
himself in ecclesiastical history, was perfectly aware 
that during the first nine centuries of the Church, the 
clergy took no part in civil matters beyond the inter- 
cession of the bishops and priests with the Supreme 
Authority, for some diminution of the punishment 
incurred by criminals. 

The decree of Gratian was the first which claimed 
for the ecclesiastical body the power of judging per- 
sons who were accused of crimes ; but it was not till 
1591, that Gregory XIV. originated the abuse and 
scandal of asylums, by pointing out eight crimes to 
which that privilege could not be accorded, and by 
ordaining that the ecclesiastical tribunals should 
thenceforth finally decide whether those who had 
taken refuge were or were not within the excepted 
cases. 

The privilege of asylums was every where, dimin- 
ished : in France, even in the time of Leopold, the 
Church did not interfere in behalf of criminals ; and 
in Germany very seldom. In the Low Countries, as 
well as in Italy, very vigorous measures had been 
taken to do away with the abuse, which nevertheless 
has always been more slow in these cases than other 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 67 

Catholic countries, on account of its propinquity to 
Rome. Venice had, however, given the example, and 
it had been followed by Lombardy, Turin, Parma, 
Naples, and even by the Pontifical States. 

Tuscany, therefore, was the only country in which 
the most atrocious crimes, as well as the most trifling 
offences, remained not only unpunished, but even en- 
couraged and protected by the privilege of the churches. 
Assassins, fratricides, poisoners, incendiaries, deserters, 
robbers, sons of the nobility who wished to withdraw 
themselves from paternal authority ; monks who had 
subjected themselves to punishment from their supe- 
riors, or soldiers from their officers ; those who had 
contracted debts. &c. &c. — all took refuge in the same 
asylum, were all equally well received, and lived in a 
state of the greatest disorder. 

They frequently disturbed the performance of divine 
service, and often maltreated the clergy ; committed 
crime after crime, insulted and even wounded those 
who attended the church, where they had been receiv- 
ed without shame, and were supported and openly de- 
fended. There they kept a school for the instruction 
of the young in robbery and swindling, sold contra- 
band goods and stolen wares. They had prostitutes 
among them, slept pele-mele under the porticoes, and 
not unfrequently had children born to them during the 
time that they remained in the asylum. They ate, 
drank, worked at their trades, and kept open shop in 
thf churches. They wore concealed arms, arrested 
the passengers in order to ransom them, and fired at 
the agents of the police if they happened to pass by. 
They sallied out secretly to commit fresh robberies 
and assassinations, and returned within the sanctuary 
of the church, in order to enjoy, without fear, the pro- 
tection which the temple and its ministers granted 
them. 

The convents were, however, the greatest recepta- 
cles of cr inii i Kits, whom the monks treated remarkably 
well, on account of tbe benefit which they derived from 
their domestic labors, and because they could use them 



68 SECRETS OP 

as instruments for the commission of those frauds which 
they were desirous of executing, and as apologies for 
those of which they were themselves guilty, and which 
they failed not to place to the credit of their guests. 
They employed them particularly in contraband trade 
for the use of the convent. 

A short time previous to the reform of the asylum, 
the monks of the convent of Spirito, at Florence, car- 
ried their impudence so far, as to allot a chamber 
among the novices to a robber who had attempted to 
kill his own brother. 

Such was the deplorable state of that beautiful part 
of Italy. There were, on the suppression of the asy- 
lums, eighty refugees, of whom a third had been guilty 
of wilful murder, and the rest, either for cutting or 
maiming the inhabitants, or of committing extensive 
robberies. Several of them had made their escape from 
the galleys. 

It was determined, in consequence, not to allow them 
any longer the privilege of asylum, and a law was 
passed, which enjoined the public authority to seize, 
for the future, every refugee, in whatever asylum he 
might be found — civil debtors, not fraudulent bank- 
rupts, only excepted — and to carry him before the 
ordinary tribunals, for the purpose of being sentenced, 
if sufficient cause was shown, to ten years' confinement 
in irons, in case of his crime deserving capital punish- 
ment ; to five, if it deserved ten ; and so on, always 
mitigating the punishment, out of regard to the spot 
on which he had been apprehended. This was the 
only method of managing the affair, so as to preserve 
the rights of the sovereign entire, to show respect for 
the privileges of the churches, and to put an end to 
irregularities and crimes, which the honor, the dignity, 
and even the conscience of the prince, forbade him to 
tolerate any longer. 

Another document illustrative of the ecclesiastical 
condition of Tuscany, before the administration of 
Ricci, contains some curious details of abuses, both 
as it regards the number and discipline of the religious 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 69 

orders. It is a letter of Rucellai, December, 1770, 
written in reply to some questions which the Grand 
Duke had addressed to him. 

Leopold had requested him to make out plans, 1, for 
diminishing as quickly as possible the number of con- 
vents in Tuscany, and of the individuals inhabiting 
them, and also for preventing foreigners from becoming 
inmates of them ; 2, for the prevention of religious 
vows, at an earlier age than twenty-four years ; 3, for 
prohibiting mendicants of religious orders from receiv- 
ing novices before the age of sixteen or eighteen ; 4, for 
suppressing all convents of mendicant orders contain- 
ing fewer than twelve persons ; 5, for enabling the 
secular priests only, and especially the curates, to 
preach in the country, and for preventing the monks 
from exercising that function ; 6, for excluding the 
monks from the direction of female convents, which 
ought to be regulated in spiritual matters by the ordi- 
naries only. 

Rucellai says in reply : — " The support and duration 
of religious orders depend partly on the success of the 
monks in procuring recruits, and partly on the interest 
which families have in supplying them with them. 
This could not possibly be the case if perpetual vows 
were not taken at so early an age as sixteen ; at an 
age which has no safeguard either against seduction 
or violence. The monks accordingly showed them- 
selves particularly anxious, at the Council of Trent, 
to retain this privilege, in order, as they said, to pre- 
vail the destruction of the monastic establishments. 

This avowal, on their part, points out the line of 
conduct which ought to be adopted by Government: 
for as the vows which the individual takes upon him, 
deprive him of various rights which lie formerly pos- 
sessed, and free him, much to the prejudice of his fellow- 
citizens and of his country, according to the tenor of 
the Canon law, from the performance of various duties 
wliuh he w,is hound to discharge to society, the tem- 
poral or civil power ought to regulate every thing 
relating to solemn vows and professions, in the same 



70 SECRETS OF 

manner that it regulates all other civil acts, and to 
limit and modify them agreeably to what its existence 
and its interests appear to require. 

It is absolutely necessary that the sovereign should 
have it in his power to prohibit the putting on of the 
religious habit without his express permission. Rome, 
however, has always opposed such an exercise of au- 
thority, to the utmost of her power. She saw clearly 
that the establishment of such a regulation would, in 
the end, destroy, or at least greatly weaken, her reli- 
gious communities, " which she justly regards as so 
many collective bodies of her subjects ; as armed le- 
gions, which she maintains abroad at the expense of 
the countries in which they so blindly execute her or- 
ders. These orders she veils with the mantle of reli- 
gion, and has the art of getting them as well executed 
by those to whom she intrusts them, as if they had 
a personal interest in doing what not unfrequently 
exposes them to all the vengeance of their Govern- 
ments." 

Rome will be just as clamorous against the adoption 
of any measures for regulating the time and mode of 
taking vows, as if these measures were offensive to the 
Almighty himself. 

Rucellai would not fix any age, as the lawful one, 
for the solemn profession of vows, unless Rome con- 
sented to it ; this he does not believe that she would 
do, even though she were compelled, for the purpose 
of giving a refusal, to recognise the superior authority 
of the Council of Trent, to which she would probably 
have recourse under such circumstances, although she 
has violated its decisions in so many others. The ul- 
terior obligation of vows, taken canonically at the age 
of sixteen, would therefore still remain; while the sove- 
reign would only have succeeded in obliging his sub- 
jects to deceive him. 

He proposes to prohibit the adoption of the ecclesi- 
astical and religious habit, under any pretext whatever, 
before the age of twenty-one. 

Children who submit to the tonsure at the age of 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 71 

seven, and young' people who enter the convent at fif- 
teen, although not bound by any particular obligation, 
do not afterwards leave off their religious profession. 
" That profession, in the present state of things, is one 
which is expressly made for those whom circumstances 
had designed for a life of industry ; namely, for the 
great mass of mankind. From the age of seven or ten, 
till twenty-four, young people, destined for profession, 
are only taught the service of the church, a little Latin, 
and some theological definitions — a kind of knowledge 
which cannot be exchanged to much pecuniary advan- 
tage, except by the clergy." They must .embrace this 
profession, therefore, either voluntarily or by force ; 
and even when they are totally incapable, and their 
conduct has been such as to render them utterly un- 
worthy of being admitted into it, the bishops, through 
compassion for them and their family, make no scruple 
in letting them pass. 

One might almost say, that they had become monks 
or priests, from the very moment they put on the livery 
of the Church, which, by depriving them of all other 
means of making a livelihood, necessarily condemns 
them to the exercise of the ecclesiastical profession. 
Thus they have bound themselves to become priests 
when they should be of age to embrace the profession, 
in the same way as an apprenticed mason, by exercis- 
ing his trade in his early years, binds himself to it for 
the rest of his life. Ruccllai shows that his scheme, 
so lit lor rooting out, at a single blow, the whole of the 
inferior clergy — the greatest part of the ecclesiastical 
hierarchy — would give great offence to the Court of 
Rome, terrify the people, and be productive of embar- 
rassment to the Government. 

In regard to diminishing the number of nuns, he is 
of opinion, that nothing can be done in that way 
without previously facilitating marriages, or having 
procured for women some middle resource between 
marriage and religious profession — a resource which 
did not exist in Tuscany. The Government will there- 
loir be obliged to resl contented, with prohibiting the 



72 SECRETS OP 

superiors from receiving more novices than they have 
the means of supporting, the number of which ought 
to be fixed ; as well as from receiving any portion 
alono- with them at the time of taking the vows. 

If the sole question relate to diminishing the number 
of monks, ^reat care ought to be taken in endeavoring 
to accomplish that object, lest the means employed 
should have any tendency to fill the Tuscan convents 
with foreign monks ; to incite the Tuscans to adopt 
the profession elsewhere ; or, finally, to prevent young 
students from other countries from repairing for their 
education to,the Tuscan monasteries. 

The step which ought to be adopted, is to cause an 
exact account to be given of the temporal wealth of 
the monks; and when that has been procured, to fax 
the precise number of individuals whom they are able 
to maintain, and, consequently, to receive m each es- 
tablishment. This ought to be accompanied by an 
order to observe strictly the injunctions of the BulJs, 
the rules, and institutes of the different orders; by 
which means those small convents in the country, 
which are prohibited by the Bulls, and which, besides 
beino- totally useless to religion, are a source of scandal 
to the people, and of impoverishment to a very valuable 
class of the community, the villagers, will be at length 
abolished. The funds arising from this source ought, 
whatever may be the clamors of the Court of Rome, 
to be appropriated to beneficent institutions, as is the 
case at Venice and other places. 

There are various religious orders who live solely by 
beo-o-ing alms ; such as the Capuchins, the Observan- 
tines, the Barefooted Carmelites, the Augustimans, and 
others, who, though originally mendicants, scarcely 
retain 'any trace of their'profession, beyond the mere 
name and the pontifical privilege attached to it. Francis 
intended his disciples to live by the labor of their hands, 
and only to implore the aids of charity when they 
found themselves unable to earn what was necessary 
for their subsistence. The Pope and the theologians 
declared, that the only labor which had been ordained 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 73 

for them was entirely spiritual ; while the Council of 
Trent, departing from the strictness of their rule, gave 
them power, like the rest of the mendicant orders, the 
Capuchins and. Observantines ouly excepted, to acquire 
and possess property. The income of those monks 
must be exactly ascertained, by calculating the product 
arising from their masses, the charities which they re- 
ceive, and the profit accruing from the direction of the 
convents. When that has been done, their numbers 
must be restrained, and every species of begging, espe- 
ciallyin the country, forbidden, as well as all the pious 
frauds which they employ in the churches for making 
money; such as enrolment in the third order, devotion 
t<> the name of Jesus, to Anthony, &c. 

"Wherever the existing revenues are found insufficient 
to maintain such a number of those parasitical plants 
as it may have been deemed necessary to support, not- 
withstanding the progress of civilization, Rucellai ad- 
vised the Government to make up the deficiency by 
means of pensions. Society will thus purchase, says 
he, by the sacrifice of a small sum of money, a deliver- 
ance from the dangerous influence, both in a moral 
and political point of view, to when the scandalous 
beggary of the clergy subjects it. Besides, by giving 
them a pension, the Government will acquire an au- 
thority over them, which it never could have obtained 
in any other way, and will have the power to diminish 
theii numbers as it may deem proper, by diminishing 
their salaries/' 



RE 



SECRETS OF 



CHAPTER V. 



Examination of Ricci before Pius VI.— Ricci in his Diocess. — Disorders 
of the Dominicans.— Disputes of Ricci with the Dominicans on the 
subject of their Convents.— Contests with the Ex- Jesuits.— Superstition 
of the Sacred Heart.— Different attempts at Reform. 

Ricci underwent the customary examination of a 
bishop before Pius VI. The ceremony appears to 
have been very disagreeable to him, for he afterwards 
repeatedly complained of its humiliating nature, and 
of the conduct of the Court of Rome in insisting on 
this and similar things, to bring the bishops more com- 
pletely under its authority. In this examination the 
candidates for episcopal orders are obliged to be on 
their knees, in the midst of a numerous assembly, 
presided over by the Pope, while the examining 
prelates, chosen from the regular priests, ques- 
tion them. Ricci says : " Whoever knows the formal- 
ities, knows that the examiners communicate the 
questions beforehand, and even tell them from what 
author they wish the answers to be taken ; because 
they have no less fear of being themselves embarrass- 
ed, and making a sorry appearance before the assem- 
bly, than the examined can have ; who, if he blunder 
a little, is always sure of being excused." The cere 
mony of his consecration, as Bishop of Pistoia and 
Prato, took place on the 24th of June, 1780. 

Prato had formerly been divided from Pistoia. "At 
the commencement of the seventeenth century," says 
Ricci, "during the discussions on the dismemberment 
of the diocese of Pistoia, the city of Prato was scarce- 
ly recovered from the frightful pillage which it had 
suffered, when it was taken by the soldiers led by the 
Cardinal John de Medici, afterwards Leo X., against 
his country, the Republic of Florence. This Cardi- 
nal, who was as bad a citizen as he was a cruel in- 
strument of the projects of Julius II. whom he served 
as legate, placed himself, it is said, at a short distance 
from the city, whilst the soldiers assaulted it. He 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 75 

there ran great risk of being killed by a shot from a 
culverin, which struck the window, from which, like 
another Nero, he enjoyed the frightful spectacle. 
Even in my time they exhibited to the curious, in the 
convent of Anne, near Prato, both the window and a 
part of the wall broken by the shot. They show also, 
in the middle of the court of the ancient house of the 
Provosts, which I afterwards used as my episcopal re- 
sidence, a large well, now filled up, which is recorded 
to have swallowed up about six hundred innocent vic- 
tims to the fury of the soldiers, as well women as 
children and old men, which the sanctity of the 
church, in which they had taken refuge, could not 
save from the massacre. Their bodies, dragged away 
from the precincts of the temple, had been neaped to- 
gether, like the flesh of the shambles, and were thrown 
into this horrible grave, till it became necessary has- 
tily to clear the place of so many carcasses, when 
the victor Cardinal was about to make his triumphant 
entry. That prince of the church, by a rare act of 
generosity, granted his pardon to a small number of 
unhappy wretches, who remained alive after that fear- 
ful catastrophe." 

Ricci had not yet gone to Pistoia, when he learned 
that a canon of that city had been imprisoned for 
robbery ; and before leaving Florence, he obtained an 
order from the Grand Duke, that the culprit should 
be shut up in his convent to do penance there. By 
this means he avoided a proceeding which would 
have been scandalous to the clergy. 

His first care, on arriving at Pistoia, was to employ 
all the means in his power to reform the Dominican 
nuns of the convent of Lucia. Before his time, the 
Bishop Alamanni had been obliged, in 1764, to take 
the spiritual management of the convents of Cathe- 
rine and Lucia at Pistoia into his own hands, on ac- 
count of the disorders reigning in them. He had re- 
ceived the express order of his Government to do so, 
and had obtained the consent of the College of Cardi- 
nals, the See of Rome being at that time vacant. He 



76 SECRETS OF 

deemed it necessary, at the same time, to remove from 
the convent the Dominican monks, who had been 
their former directors. The nuns of Lucia were so 
much affected by this unexpected attack, that he never 
could succeed in reducing them to obedience. After 
his death, the Bishop Ippoliti, for four entire years la- 
bored in vain for the accomplishment of the same ob- 
ject. These unhappy victims of monachal seduction 
obstinately refused to listen to the authority of their 
pastor ; and some of them preferred giving up the 
sacraments altogether, to receiving them from the 
hands of the secular or regular clergy, whom the 
Bishop had marked out to administer, after the Prince 
had prohibited the Dominicans from approaching 
them. There was among them a novice who never 
would make her vows before the Bishop, because she 
would not promise obedience to any one but the Gen- 
eral of the Dominicans. 

When Ricci complained at Rome of these disorders 
to the Pope, and avowed his suspicions that the monks 
alone were the cause of so much obstinacy on the 
part of the nuns : " Can you doubt it ?" said Pius VI. ; 
and immediately afterwards he uttered a violent sally 
against the General of the Dominicans, whom he 
painted as a troublesome and obstinate man. He 
charged Ricci to assure the nuns, that it was his for- 
mal intention to leave them, for the future, subject to 
their bishop, and not to the friars ; and that they 
should have no scruple, on account of the obedience 
which they had promised to their General. 

" Fortified by this pontifical authority, the new Bish- 
op gradually brought the Dominican nuns under his 
jurisdiction ; made them accept a new confessor, and 
even prevailed upon the novice to make her vows. He 
confesses, however, that there was need of constant 
vigilance to guard against the underhand intriguing 
of the Dominican friars. 

Jn Prato, he abridged their power, and made them 
submit to his episcopal jurisdiction ; but the affront 
which wounded them to the quick, was an order 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 77 

which he issued, that no friar should go into a convent 
of nuns, unless solely in case of necessity, and always 
with surplice and stole, to administer the sacraments. 
They used every effort to obtain the repeal of that 
order. 

The Jesuits, though abolished as a body, still kept 
up their intrigues. With that zealous and pertinacious 
sect Ricci had a violent dispute, on a superstitious ob- 
servance, called, the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of 
Jesiis ! That order had always been very zealous in 
the cause of candidates. Pope Clement XIII. had 
supported them ; but Clement XIV. utterly destroyed 
their plans. The Jesuits at Pistoia had sounded Ricci 
on his inclinations with respect to this, their favorite 
devotion, while he was at Rome. A man at Prato 
had wished to establish an annual festival, to found a 
perpetual mass, and to obtain indulgences in honor of 
the Sacred Heart. Cardinal Rezzonico granted the 
recmest, and sent a brief to that effect to Prato, whence 
it was returned by the Pro-vicar to Ricci, who kept it 
in his hands, without giving it currency. 

The first abortive attempt was followed by a sec- 
ond, after he had taken possession of his bishopric. 
In April, 1781, he was at Prato on occasion of the 
solemn benediction of several bells destined for the ca- 
thedral of that city. When he came into the church, 
and at the very moment of commencing the office pre- 
scribed for that superstitious ceremony, he was warned 
that it was intended to deceive him ; but there was no 
time to inform him in what the snare laid against him 
consisted. Accustomed to the intrigues of priests, he 
promised that lie would not let himself be surprised; 
;iikI suspecting that sonic fraud lurked under the re- 
quest that lie should baptize the largest of the bells in 
honor of Jesus ( 'hrist, lie refused to do it. The pre- 
text be alleged was, that as all hells were dedicated to 
God, then: was no need of a particular ceremony for 
that, and he gave the hell the name of Stephen, the 
patron of the town. \\ hen the office was concluded, 
he went to admire the workmanship of the new hells, 
7* 



78 SECRETS OF 

in order to have time to examine them ; and he dis- 
covered under the garland of flowers with which the 
principal be]] was rather covered, than ornamented, 
the inscription In honor em SS. Cordis Jesu. At the 
sight of this he could not contain his indignation ; he 
caused the inscription to be effaced, and complained 
of it to the Grand Duke. For this recourse to the 
civil power, Ricci was bitterly blamed by his enemies, 
and those of social order. 

That devotion to the Sacred Heart caused Ricci still 
farther trouble. Salvi, a man deeply imbued with the 
spirit of the suppressed order, exposed throughout Pra- 
to, his native place, where he was Prior of the church 
of Notre Dame, pictures of the Sacred Heart, which he 
surrounded with rich ornaments, calculated to keep up 
the superstition of the people. He added indulgences, 
obtained from Pius VI. in favor of this new devotion, 
although it had not been previously verified and recog- 
nised for authentic by the Bishop, as the Council of 
Trent requires. Finally, he openly supported a frater- 
nity illegally formed and introduced into Tuscany, in 
honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

" Every body knows," says Ricci, " and fatal expe- 
rience has too fully proved it during the troubles which 
still agitate Europe, how many machinations the Je- 
suits set on foot, under the protection of Pius VI. to re- 
establish their society. They imagined that this doc- 
trine of the Sacred Heart would be the most proper 
centre and point of union for all who should labor to 
that end ; with this view, they neglected no means, no 
artifice, to promote and establish this worship. The 
Popes before Clement XIII. had generally opposed it on 
religious grounds. After the suppression of the Jesuits, 
this superstition made little progress, on account of the 
vigilance and firmness of Clement XIV. ; and in all 
probability, had that pontiff lived longer,* it would have 
been buried with the suppressed order. " But God," 

* The historian of the Life of Ricci here inserts a note which has for 
its object to prove the authenticity of the letters of Ganganelli. The 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 79 

says Ricci, " wished to try his church, in order to pu- 
rify it, and has permitted that this devotion of the Sa- 
cred Heart should revive in all its force under Pius YI. 
who scattered indulgences in handfuls on the Cordi- 
coles; the worshippers of the Sacred Heart." 

Salvi was their apostle at Prato. He was cited to 
Florence by the Senator Bartolini, to answer for his 
conduct, but that cunning Jesuit seduced this magis- 
trate from his duty, and Leopold had to reprimand him, 
and order him to apologise to Ricci for his conduct. 
The Bishop treated him on this occasion with the great- 
est attention, but could not win the obstinate heart of 
the Jesuit. 

The city of Prato was entirely under the influence 
of the monks. The Jesuits and the Dominicans exer- 
cised there the most absolute power, the former direct- 
ing the education of the youth of all the principal fa- 
milies of the neighborhood, and the latter managing 
the female convents. The Bishop was considered as 
little more than the chief personage of the place ; his 
spiritual authority was nothing. In this situation of 
things, Ricci, jealous of his power, and especially so 
when religion and morality demanded its rigorous ex- 
ertion, could hardly remain long without a dispute 
with tlie monks. Their first difference originated in the 
Domination of a Dominican confessor and. preacher, in 
which dispute Ricci saw himself overcome by the want 

Abbe de Belgarde thus expresses himself on this curious point of literary 
history, in two letters to Ricci, written in 1776: 

" 1 hive you seen the letters of Ganganelli ? there are a good number 
of them addressed to the late Messieurs Lauri and Cerati. You and M. 
Martini ought to have read them. You are, of course, aware that there 
arc some persons who throw doubt upon the authenticity of these letters ; 
some through passion and interest, as the cx-Jcsuits and infidels; and 
others through a fasti. lions spirit of criticism. For myself, I have not the 
slightest doubt on the subject. Independent of the evidence derived from 
the work itself, 1 have seen in the original, the letters of many persons of 
authority in Rome, of which transcripts had been furnished, which, in 
Other points loo, prove the truth of this publication." In another letter, 
tbeAbbede Belgarde adds, " I have the satisfaction of knowing, that 
persona who have the best means of judging, particularly the Cardinal 
■ 1. Berni, regard the letters of Clement XIV. as authentic." 



80 SECRETS OP 

of discretion in the Vi car-general, who took part with 
his opponents. 

For a century and half previous to this, the total 
corruption of the Dominican order had been a matter 
of scandal throughout Tuscany. The spiritual direc- 
tion which those monks had of the female convents 
had degenerated into the basest profligacy. A peti- 
tion, dated 1642, still exists, in which the Gonfalonier 
of that period, and other representatives of the people 
of Pistoia, address the reigning Duke, praying for a 
reformation in the convents of the Dominicans of Lu- 
cia and Catherine. Ferdinand, however, did nothing, 
and the honor was reserved for Leopold. 

Two nuns of the convent of Catherine of Pistoia, 
who had exposed the execrable principles and doctrines 
of the Dominican monks, their directors, gave rise to 
his wise reforms. They proved how much the profit 
which the monks, and above all, the Provincial and 
the Confessor drew from their convent, as well as from 
others, hurt the temporal interests of those religious 
houses, and were gradually ruining them. Tbey gave 
equally strong proofs of the spiritual ruin produced by 
the familiarity of the monks with the nuns, and the 
easy communication which they had with them. They 
ate and drank with their favorite sisters, remained 
alone with them in their cells whenever they chose, 
and whenever they could find a pretext, slept during 
the night in the cloister. Long habit had in fact so ac- 
customed them to the greatest license, that scarcely any 
respect for public decency remained. We here insert 
the declaration of the nuns of Catherine of Pistoia, 
which was presented to the Grand Duke Leopold in the 
year 1775. 

" Instead of allowing us to remain in our.simplicity, 
and protecting our innocence, they teach us, both by 
word and action, all kinds of indecencies. They fre- 
quently come to the vestry, of which they have almost 
all the keys ; and as there is a grate there, they com- 
mit a thousand indecorous acts. 

" If they get an opportunity of coming into the con- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 81 

vent under any feigned pretext, they go and stay alone 
in the chambers of those who are devoted to them. 
They are all of the same stamp ; and they are not 
ashamed to take advantage of the circumstance of the 
visitation for those purposes. They utter the worst 
expressions, saying that we should look upon it as a 
great happiness that we have the power of satisfying 
our appetites without being exposed to the annoyance 
of children. They say that when this life is ended, all 
is ended ; and they add that even Paul, who wrought 
with bis own hands, should teach us ; and that we 
should not hesitate to take our pleasures. 

"They allow every kind of indecency to go on in 
the parlour. Though often warned by us, they do not 
break off the dangerous intimacies that are formed ; 
and hence it has often occurred, that men who have 
contrived to get the keys have come into the convent 
during the night, which they have spent in the most 
dissipated manner. They also suffer the nuns to ne- 
glect the sacraments : they never think of introducing 
the practice of mental prayer, and they preach nothing 
but the pleasures of this life. The sisters who live ac- 
cording to their maxims are extolled by them and in- 
dulged in every extravagance ; and the others must 
either go with the stream, heedless of conscience, or 
live in a state of perpetual warfare, as is actually the 
case with us now. 

" This is the real truth. We the undersigned attest 
it, without passion, and on our conscience. 

" Anna Teresa Merlini, Madre di Consiglio. 

" Rosa Peraccini, Madre di Consiglio. 

"Flavia Peraccini, Madre di Consiglio. 

" Gaetana Poggiali. 

" Candida, Gioconda Botti. 

" Maria, Clotilda Bambi." 
The intercourse of the monks and nuns, according 
to Ricci, was arrived to such a pitch of infamous licen- 
tiousness, that topics of the most disgusting nature 
formed the usual subject of their conversation ; while 
the greater part of the sisters deprived themselves of 



82 SECRETS OP 

their money and every thing else to satisfy the rapacity 
of their lovers, performed for them the most servile of- 
fices, and even sometimes went by the name of their 
wives. A person who had been in the service of the 
Dominicans, told the Bishop many other things of a 
still worse kind, and that his principal employment had 
been that of a confidential messenger in their love-in- 
trigues. Leopold, already well informed of this con- 
dition of the convents, to obtain still farther information, 
had the fab Helens of the establishment examined, and 
found every thing he had before heard confirmed. He 
next had all the nuns themselves examined by the Lieu- 
tenant of Police ; and seeing the necessity of some 
prompt and vigorous measure, appointed Bishop Ala- 
manni to take without delay the spiritual superintend- 
ence of all the Dominican convents of Pistoia, and pro- 
hibited the Dominican monks, on pain of imprison- 
ment, from approaching them. While Ricci was Vicar 
of the Archbishop of Florence, it was reported to him 
that in a convent of that diocese where the nuns all 
slept in a common dormitory, the two last beds were 
for the father confessor and his lay brother, that they 
might have them in case of being called to assist any 
sick sister during the night. 

Alamanni resided at Florence, but, though at a dis- 
tance from his diocese and eighty years old, he ren- 
dered an exact account of every thing which occurred, 
and gave minute directions on every occasion of diffi- 
culty or doubt. Neither his gentleness, however, nor 
his kind feelings for the nuns, could overcome their 
pride and obstinacy. They constantly refused to re- 
gard him as their superior, or to show the least confi- 
dence in the confessors he appointed. They asserted 
that, by acting in a contrary manner, they should have 
incurred the excommunication of Pius V.; and the 
dread of this was so strong with many, that one who 
was dangerously ill at Lucia, never requested the sa- 
craments. With some, this was the effect of igno- 
rance ; but in many, it arose from vicious passions and 
the desire of their safe indulgence. The monks, the 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 83 

nuns, and even the Cardinal-protector of the order, 
omitted no opportunity of assuring them, either by let- 
ters or secret emissaries, that if they continued firm, 
the tempest which menaced them would in a little time 
gradually be dispersed. By this means the nuns were 
confirmed in their obstinate resistance, in which they 
persevered. 

A short time after the death of Clement XIV. in 
1774, Alamanni addressed the Court of Rome to obtain 
the power and means for reducing the Dominicans of 
Pistoia under his authority. The Cardinals, assembled 
in conclave, granted his request, and confided to him 
a commission for governing the convents of Lucia and 
Catherine, and requested him to communicate such 
farther information as might be useful to the future 
Pope. He satisfied their demand, and added to the de- 
tails already given, a lively picture of the abuse of au- 
thority of which both the priors and confessors in the 
convent of Pistoia were guilty. 

The nuns, says Alamanni, nearly all declare the same 
thing respecting the dissoluteness and libertinism of 
their directors, of their materialism in doctrine, and the 
brutality of their sentiments ; and that he had in a great 
degree a personal experience of the truth of these as- 
sertions, as he had been charged with their spiritual 
administration. 

In the mean time the disorders increased at Lucia. 
The nuns uniformly united in opposing the Bishop, in 
refusing the sacraments, and remaining without a su- 
perior; since, after the death of the one who had go- 
verned them according to the direction of the Domi- 
nicans, they were determined to elect no other without 
their co-operation. Tiny believed, or pretended to be- 
lieve, that the provisionary power given by the Cardi- 
dinals to their Bishop to replace the monks, was cither 
supposititious or insufficient. At Catherine, the demon 
of discord reigned without restraint. Those who had 
been reclaimed were regarded as guiltyof apostacy, as 
schismatics, and excommunicated. The party opposed 
to them was, although less numerous, the most lurbu- 



SECRETS OF 



lent and determined. The threats of poisoning or stran- 
gling the complainants were nearly every day renewed, 
and no authority availed to subdue the pride of those 
miserably depraved nuns. The actual condition of 
those persons appears from the report which the three 
churchwardens signed and presented to Leopold, and 
from a letter of one of the nuns to the Rector Camporini. 

" The Prior and the Confessor take the liberty of 
going, whenever they please, into the vestry to con- 
verse with their favorites ; whereas, according to the 
tenor of the Bull, they should not even communicate 
with them ad loquendum bonum : they have parties 
of pleasure there, and eat with the nuns. One time, 
on Easter day, the other nuns going in a body to divert 
themselves there, surprised two other monks along 
with them, each passing his time with his favorite 
nun. 

" The said Prior and Confessor, when they come 
into the convent to visit the sick, do not go to them 
recto tramite, as the Bulls direct, but wherever they 
please, and even alone with the nuns into their cells, 
and they walk together in the garden. 

" If they are attending on any nuns that are dying, 
they eat and sleep in the monastery, which is pro- 
hibited, and they eat with whom they please, even 
with the sextonesses. 

These irregularities are imputed not only to the 
Prior and Confessor, but to all those destined from time 
to time for these employments, who are guilty of con- 
stant ill conduct. 

In a letter of Flavia Peraccini to Comparini, written 
August, 1775, she thus expresses herself: 

"I learned yesterday morning that the fratesses, 
monkesses, had a letter last Friday from the Cardinal 
Protector of the order, in which he desires them 
to beseech the Lord to give them patience ; that he 
would do all in his power for them, but that they 
should not be in a hurry, for the affair would be 
tedious. At all events, both they and the monks keep 
up their hopes, and make every effort to prevent any 



FEMALE CONVENTS. S5 

change. No one can have any idea of the extent of the 
intrigues of the monks ; and the devices to which they 
have recourse to secure themselves, are astonishing - . 

" Every time I think of the plan of the Provincial 
to make ns all communicate, and then to make us all 
sign a declaration that we attended the sacraments, 
and that every thing was done in good order, and thus 
make liars of us, I am perfectly unable to restrain my 
astonishment." 

The reader is now well acquainted with the Domi- 
nican nuns and the monks their seducers. It would 
be useless to make any observation on the interest 
which one of the princes of the church testified so openly 
for them, as well as the high protection which he 
promised them to aid them in resuming, as soon as 
possible, their claustral amours, and returning to their 
libertine habits, against the will of their Prince and 
their Bishop ; of those who were charged, as they say, 
by divine right, to oblige them to live in a way the 
most useless or most innocuous to society. 

Some letters of the nuns of Catherine of Pistoia, prove 
how far the immodesty of the refractory nuns, and of 
the monks their paramours, went. The former openly 
threatened the lives of such of the sisters as had ven- 
tured to reveal that tissue of debauchery, and to call 
on the Government to re-establish order and good 
morals. 

In May, 1775, Marianna Santini, Prioress of Cathe- 
rine, wrote to her diocesan, Alamanni, to say that she 
and her sisters submitted themselves to him uncondi- 
tionally, and promised every thing that he required of 
them, '• except a change of sentiment, as we are deter- 
mined to die rather than live out of our holy order. 
The greater part of my nuns arc determined to go into 
Bome other monastery of the order, and there is no 
other course to adopt. — Ours is a single will, most 
free and resolute, which will always make us adhere 
immutably to what we freely choose in the act of our 
solemn profession." 

The complainants presented a petition to the Vicar 
8 



86 SECRETS OF 

of Bishop Alamanni, praying that he would deliver 
them from their turbulent companions. 

" The poor nuns of Catherine of Pistoia salute the 
Vicar, and entreat him, by the bowels of Jesus Christ, 
to remove five nuns and two converses, lay sisters, 
who oppose the resolutions formed by his Royal 
Highness ; otherwise there will result great mischief. 
They never cease to ill-treat the complainants by 
words, and they threaten to come to acts. We conceal 
ourselves through fear. Complainants know not what 
to do, whether they should quit the convent to save 
their lives. They pray you to adopt some measures 
before evening, or, as they have said, they will go out, 
&c. — Anna Teresa Merlini — Rosa Peraccini — Maria 
Caterina Rossi — Candida Botti — Anna Luisa Saccardi 
— Gsetana Poggiali." 

June, 1775, they wrote to the Bishop Alamani him- 
self: 

" You must be already acquainted with the treat- 
ment that we experienced yesterday from Mother 
Ganucci, that is, her calling one of us a fool, because 
a sigh escaped her at dinner, in so loud a voice as to 
be heard at a great distance. She then, after dinner, 
called us jades and audacious wretches, and threatened 
to have us put to death. La Biagiola and La Campioni 
are always planning to do us michief, and to poison us. 
We who know the sort of persons they arc, and their 
little fear of God, live in terror all day and night. — 
They laughed at the communications made by you ; 
and said quite loud in the garden — pardon us, and do 
not impute it to want of respect — that you were a 
knave and a dolt, that wanted to play the braggadocio, 
because you knew your power would soon be at an 
end, &c. Yesterday morning they read a book at the 
table, in which it is said, that the Emperor Charles IV. 
exempted the monks from the power of princes, and 
that they are only subject to the Empire, and in spirit- 
uals immediately to the Pope." 

Maria Caterina Rossi, when calling for a new prior- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 87 

ess for the convent of Catherine, thus expressed herself 
on the subject of the refractory nuns : 

" Suffice it to say, that even in places requiring 
silence, they presume to bawl out at the bottom of the 
doors, even during- the hours of repose ; and say that 
we put ourselves in the hands of the Devil, when we 
put ourselves in those of the priests ; and, finally, 
threaten to strangle us." 

Anna Merlini wrote to the Bishop : 

'•'The monks, as well as the nuns, have obtained, 
what they desired ; they wished for the ruin of the 
monastery, and they will see it. As soon as possession 
was taken by the Vicar, the Provincial went to Flor- 
ence, and the Prior to Rome ; for if they could do 
nothing- else, they would succeed in having us dis- 
placed, and that the Confessor himself said to more 
than one of us. They commenced a suit at Florence, 
and at Rome. The lay-brother belonging to the last 
Provincial remained here to give all the news to the 
nuns, and to extract from them every thing they knew, 
to communicate it to his superiors." 

Alamanni in vain addressed the Court of Rome ; 
in vain did he call for aid, and paint in the liveliest 
colors his affliction at finding his power altogether in- 
sufficient for the difficulties of the times. He obtained 
not even an answer. 

In June, 1775, he wrote to the Congregation of 
Bishops and Regulars; and in July, to Cardinal Ca- 
rafia ; but the same silence continued. In the mean- 
while, the nuns lauffhed at the menaces, as well as the 
exhortations oi their pastor. Alamanni wrote again, 
in September, to Cardinal Torrigiani, his old friend. 
He told him all the anxiety of his mind, and how much 
lie Buffered in seeing himself so deserted; but the only 
consolation he received from Torrigiani was an assur- 
ance, that he pitied his situation, and that he would 
do all in his power to bring the subject again into con- 
sideration. "It is not," says Ricci, "that Alamanni 
knew not in wh.ii manner, or to what extent he might 
use his authority; but he was not willing to hurt the 



89 SECRETS OF 

prejudices either of his flock, which was favorable to 
Rome, or of the nobles of Pistoia, the daughters of 
whom peopled the two refractory convents. Nor was 
he willing to embroil himself in a quarrel with the See 
of Rome. He communicated to the Grand Duke the 
motives for this restraint; and the latter, who loved him 
ardently, assured him that he had no personal reason 
to fear either the intrigues of the monks, or the snares 
of the Nuncio. Finding that the Cardinal Torrigiani 
obtained nothing from the Congregation of Bishops, 
Alamanni prayed him to address ^Pius VI. himself. 
Torrigiani did so, and the month following he returned 
Alamanni an account of the Pope's reply. " The Holy 
Father," he said, "was not willing, in any way, to ap- 
prove of the innovations illegally-introduced into the 
two convents ; and especially the design of the Tuscan 
Government to take away the direction of the convents 
from all the regular orders, the abuse of which the 
Pope declared he believed to be dictated by calumny." 
The Bishop of Pistoia died in the same month. 

Ippoliti, his successor, the compatriot of the refrac- 
tory nuns, and the relation even of many of them, 
hoped to overcome them by patience and kindness ; 
but he was no more successful than Alamanni. He 
succeeded also as little in obtaining any assistance 
from the Congregation of Bishops ; till at length the 
disorders increased to such a height, that Leopold 
himself interposed his authority. Intending to pursue 
more general measures, in the hope that they would 
be more efficacious, he addressed a circular to the 
Tuscan bishops, desiring them to demand of the See 
of Rome the removal of the convents from the direction 
of the monks, and their submission to the spiritual 
government of the ordinaries. This measure had been 
constantly desired from the time of Cosmo I., and the 
Grand Duke conceived the project of effecting it. The 
circulars were sent in 1776. The bishops who receiv- 
ed them, were not ignorant of the excesses which the 
Prince wished to extirpate. They knew also that the 
direction of the convents by the monks, was in direct 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 

opposition to all the reforms which he intended to in- 
troduce for the good of religion throughout the States ; 
and they had, consequently, no excuse for resisting his 
orders. But the Avocat Fei, the charge-d'affaires for 
Tuscany, was not a fit negotiator in such a business. 
Of narrow views, blindly attached to the Court of Rome, 
and the devoted friend and admirer of P. Mamachi, he 
permitted himself to be blinded by the pontifical govern- 
ment. Although, therefore, he pretended to assist the 
reform, he rendered his concessions of no avail, by the 
conditions with which it was burdened, namely, that 
every Tuscan bishop should give an account of the 
convents, the spiritual direction of which was in his 
hands, in order that a proof might thus be afforded of 
the necessity of the transfer. This was the true method 
to carry on the disputes without end. The Bishop 
Ippoliti imagined that nothing should prevent the 
renewal of his complaints, or his demands to have all 
the convents committed to his power. But he soon 
discovered his mistake : the Court of Rome grants 
every thing to submission, and by favor ; nothing to 
justice, to right and demand. Ippoliti received, in 
January, 1777, a letter from the Pope, in which he 
not only refused what the prelate had requested, but 
heaped reproaches upon him for having recalled an 
affair to the recollection of his Holiness, which he 
hoped had been forgotten since the death of Alamanni. 
The Uishop is, moreover, especially rebuked with hav- 
ing contributed to the execution of the plan of the 
( J rand Duke to take the direction of the convents from 
the hands of the regulars, a plan, it is said, opposed to 
the canons, and hurtful to religion and the monastic 
orders. The only attempt at softening the refusal of 
this, and Leopold's request, was the putting of a few 
neglected and altogether vicious convents into the 
bands of some Tuscan bishops. 

Ippoliti had another ray of hope; but he had too 

much good sense to be a favorite with the See of Rome, 

and the only concessions he could obtain, was a per 

mission f<> transfer the refractory nuns of Catherine to 

8* 



90 SECRETS OF 

the convent of Clement of Prato, which was under the 
direction of the Dominicans, and where they were re- 
ceived in triumph. 

Still greater disorders than those which had been 
supposed to exist at Pistoia, were soon discovered at 
Prato. Ricci had his attention directed towards the 
latter by the disgraceful incontinency of two of the 
nuns. All the evil which existed was attributable to 
the Dominican monks. For many years, says the 
Bishop, those women lived plunged in the most infa- 
mous debauchery. The name of the one was Catherine 
Irene Buonamici, sprung from a noble family in Prato, 
aged fifty years ; the other, Clodesin de Spighi, of 
equally noble descent, aged thirty-eight years. Every 
means had been employed by the Dominicans to pre- 
vent any of the circumstances from transpiring. When 
Ricci, however, received the government of the diocese, 
and Vincent Majocchi was appointed confessor to the 
convent of Catherine, the dreadful situation of its mem- 
bers became exposed to public notice. At the feast of 
Pentecost, Majocchi, more scrupulous than his prede- 
cessors, refused those two nuns absolution. In an in- 
stant the affair became known abroad. The Vicar of 
Prato, Lorenzo Palli, was informed of it, and Ricci 
himself hearing it reported, sent to obtain the details 
from the Vicar. The latter answered, that the nuns 
believed neither the sacraments of the church, nor 
the eternity of another life ; that they denied certain 
criminal actions to be sins, and especially those of the 
flesh. Not content with what he had done, Majocchi 
went himself to Pistoia, to give the Bishop, and the 
Penitencier of the cathedral, who was the uncle of 
Spighi, an account of what had passed ; but so op- 
pressed was he with the difficulties which presented 
themselves to a reform, that, notwithstanding the re- 
monstrances of Ricci, he resigned his office. 

Ricci wished to do nothing in this affair without the 
concurrence of the Dominicans themselves; but the 
rudeness and obstinacy with which they replied to his 
overture, are almost past belief. The Bishop, however, 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 91 

had to congratulate himself afterwards that no com- 
promise took place, and that he was left to pursue his 
reformation to the utmost. The Grand Duke, having 
been informed by him of what had occurred, began by- 
giving the most severe orders that no communication 
should take place between the convent of Catherine 
and the Dominican monks. He also collected what- 
ever documents might tend to prove the complicated 
baseness of the Dominicans, and that also of the Domi- 
nicans at Pistoia in 1774, and which might enable him 
to examine the affair in all its ramifications. He sub- 
mitted the measures which had been taken, two years 
after, 1776, to the Court of Rome, to obtain for the 
bishops the direction of the convents, but which mea- 
sures the intrigues of the Dominicans at Rome totally 
destroyed. 

The monks perceived the danger of their situation, 
and could discover no other method of lessening it, 
than that of exciting the people in their favor against 
the Government. For this purpose they prepared a 
nun of the convent of Vincent, at Pistoia, and obliged 
her to feign an ecstacy before the shrine which contains 
the body of St. Catherine. When this was done, a 
report was spread that the city was menaced, by this 
celestial sign, with some dreadful scourge. Instantly 
tin; church of the Recollets was filled with women, 
thinking (he world was at an end, and demanding con- 
fession ; nor was the tumult appeased till it was said 
that the misfortune only threatened the children of 
Saint Dominic. 

The disorders discovered at Prato were only the 
sequel of those which the Government had rooted out 
of fin; convents of Pistoia. In two letters of Flavia 
Peraccini, Prioress of Catherine of Pistoia, to Compa- 
ring rector of the episcopal seminary in the same city; 
th«' nun relates what passed before her eyes in her own 
convent, what had passed there before she wrote, and 
wh.it still continued to take place in other convents, 
particularly at Prato. 

u ft would require both time and memory to recollect 



92 SFXRETS OF 

what has occurred during the twenty-four years that 
1 have had to do with monks, and all that I have heard 
tell of them. Of those who are gone to the other world 
I shall say nothing ; of those who are still alive, and 
have little decency of conduct, there are very many, 
among whom there is an ex-provincial named Ballendi ; 
then Donati, Pacini, Buzzaccherini, Calvi, Zoratti, Big- 
liacci, Guidi, Miglietti, Verde, Bianchi, Ducci, Serafini, 
Bolla, Nera di Lucca, Quaretti. With the exception 
of three or four, all that I ever knew, alive or dead, 
are of the same character ; they have all the same 
maxims and the same conduct. They are on more 
intimate terms with the nuns than if they were married 
to them. 

" It is the custom now, that, when they come to 
visit any sick sister, they sup with the nuns, they sing, 
dance, play, and sleep in the convent. It is a maxim 
of theirs, that God has forbidden hatred, but not love ; 
and that the man is made for the woman, and the 
woman for the man. They teach us to amuse our- 
selves, saying, that Paul said the same, who wrought 
with his own hands. They deceive the innocent, and 
even those that are most circumspect ; and it would 
need a miracle to converse with them and not to fall. 

" The priests are the husbands of the nuns, and the 
lay-brothers of the lay-sisters. In the chamber of one 
of those I have mentioned, a man was one day found ; 
he fled, but very soon after they gave him to us as 
confessor extraordinary. How many bishops are there 
in the Papal States who have come to the knowledge 
of some disorder, have held examinations and visita- 
tions, and yet could never remedy it ; because the 
monks tell us that those are excommunicated who 
reveal what passes in the order ! l Poor creatures ! said 
I to an English provincial, they think they are leav- 
ing the world to escape danger, and they only meet 
with greater. Our fathers and mothers have given us 
a good education, and here we learn the Ave Maria 
backwards.' He knew not what reply to make to me. 
God is my witness, I speak without passion. The 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 93 

monks have never done any thins; to me personally to 
make me dislike them; but I will say that so iniqui- 
tous a race as the monks no where exists. Bad as the 
seculars are, they do not at all come up to them ; and 
the art of the monks with the world and their superi- 
ors baffled description. 

" When they notify the death of a nun, they make 
a panegyric on her in the circular letter, to show that 
they know how to direct these poor graceless creatures ! 
God only knows if they are not utterly lost. How ill 
they are attended when on the bed of death ! That, 
indeed, is camaval-time. 

•• When they gave us the holy-water every year, 
they threw every thing, even the beds, into disorder. 
What a racket they used to make ! One time they 
washed Father Manni's face, and dressed him like a 
nun. In short, it was a perpetual scene of amuse- 
ment : — comedies and conversation for ever. Every 
monk who passed by on his way to the chapter they 
found some means of showing into the convent, and 
intreated a sick sister to confess herself. Everlasting 
scandal about husbands, — of those who had stolen the 
mistress of such a one; how others had avenged 
themselves in the chapter ; and how they would not 
have forgiven even in death. 

" Do not suppose that this is the case in our con- 
vent alone. It is just the same at Lucia, at Prato, at 
Pisa, .it Perugia ; and I have heard things that would 
astonish you. Every where it is the same, every 
where the same disorders, every where the same abuses 
prevail. Let the superiors suspect as they may, they 
do not know even the smallest part of the enormous 
wickedness that goes on between the monks and the 
nuns." 

The next day the Nun Peraccini, who had been 
interrogated respecting Friar Buzzacchcrini of Lucia, 
replied by flu- following letter. These details had 
been required of her because it was known that that 
monk had been senl as confessor to the nuns of Vincent 
of Pistoia, where it had been ascertained, the conies- 



94 SECRETS OF 

sors were in the habit of staying every clay till midnight, 
to the knowledge of the whole town. 

" With respect to Buzzaccherini, he acted just like 
the rest, sitting up late, diverting himself, and letting 
the usual disorders go on. There were several nuns 
who had love affairs. His own mistress was Odaldi 
of Lucia, who used to send him continual treats ; and 
he was in love with the daughter of our factor, of 
whom they were very jealous here. He too, like the 
other monks, used to send us his dirty linen. He ruined 
poor Cancellieri, who was sextoness, for he was always 
asking something from her, and almost every morning 
she had to dress him some nice dish. They are all 
alike." 

Some years ago the nuns of Vincent, in consequence 
of the extraordinary passion they had for Father Lupi 
and Father Borghigiani, were divided into two parties, 
one calling themselves Le Lupe, the other Le Borg- 
higiani. 

He 'who made the greatest noise in Lucia was Donati, 
but I believe he is now at Rome. Brandi too was also 
in great vogue. He is now prior at Gemignano. 

" It is true, that the temporal is not oppressive, but 
the nun who is always giving to the friar, how does 
she observe her vow of poverty ? — At Vincent, which 
passes for a sanctuary, they also have their lovers." 

The direction of the female convents by the regu- 
lars, usually produced corruption of morals. In a 
letter written from Rome, October, 17S1, by the Advo- 
cate Zanobetti to Bishop Ricci, he hopes that it will 
end with the general adoption of withdrawing the 
nuns from the spiritual direction of the monks; "espe- 
cially in the states, where, some years ago, it was neees- 
sary to raze from the foundations one of men be- 
longing to the barefooted Carmelites, the other of 
women of the same order, which were joined, and in 
which, by means of subterranean passages, they led the 
ordinary life of men and women." Zanobetti had been 
five years employed in the office of assessor of the 
Inquisition, and knew much more about monks and 
nuns than the Bishop of Pistoia. 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 95 



CHAPTER VI 



Examination of the Nuns ofPrato. — Obstinacy of the Pope. — Ricci's visit 
to La Montagne. — Improvements in that district. — Reform of ecclesias- 
tical studies." 

The nuns of Lucia, in Pistoia, had voluntarily sub- 
mitted themselves to their new pastor. Weariness, 
ennui, and principally their being deprived of the sup- 
port of the convent of Catherine, had induced them to 
believe that no efforts they could make, would bring 
back the monks. This was not the case at Prato. 
The pride and madness of the Dominicans, opposed 
to the firmness of the Prince and the Bishop, drove 
tilings every day to greater extremity. The resorts of 
cunning remained, and a monk attempted to employ 
them. At the period when he was least expected, 
Calvi, a Dominican, arrived at Prato, authorized by 
an order from the Grand Duke to co-operate with 
Ricci in the examination of the existing abuses. He 
had been warmly recommended to the Prince by Ser- 
atti, his secretary; who hoped, by this measure, to 
moid rate the zeal of Ricci. But Calvi spoiled all, by 
acting liis part improperly; and Ricci, informed of his 
conduct, immediately made Leopold acquainted with 
his character, and had him recalled. 

\ Servite, named 1*. Baldi, had been commissioned 
by Ricci to examine the nuns and boarders of the con- 
vent of Catherine. During this affair, every one con- 
nected in any way with the Dominicans, was in the 
greatest agitation. " It is more easy to imagine, than 
to describe the fury of the monks and their adherents, 
;ii Prato. Tumults and secret machinations were 
formed, to free the accused nuns, and destroy every 
proof of their guilt. These turbulent monks had also 
B powerful assistanl in the Papal Nuncio for Tus- 
cany. He afforded them aid and protection, because 



90 SECRETS OF 

he knew that their dishonor would fall on the Court of 
Rome. He defended and prohibited the ex-Jesuits, 
whom his court also supported, because it saw that if 
it would continue to be a court, it must not allow these 
vigorous satellites of its despotism to be crushed. 

June, 1781, Ricci wrote to the minister Seratti : 

" The Dominicans are in motion ; the Nuncio does 
not relax in his efforts to save them. It is not at all 
unlikely that he will endeavor to have the cause 
brought before himself, under the pretext of having 
received a special commission from his court, and in 
the hope, that the affair going on tediously, according 
to the usual policy of the Holy See, people will at last 
get tired, and the matters remain in statu quo. 

" They say at Rome, to defend the monks, that the 
two nuns are mad ; but, up to the present hour, no one 
has ever taken them for such. Besides, Buonamici 
was prioress of her society ten or twelve years ago. 
She and Spighi were, in 1775 or 1776, the one mistress, 
the other second mistress of the novices. Finally, 
they have been always admitted to partake of the 
sacraments, and that alone is enough to condemn the 
monks." 

As protector of the licentiousness of the monks, the 
Nuncio thought he might at least partake of their less 
scandalous pleasures. In a letter of the Abbe de 
Bellegarde, one of the heads of the Jansenists at 
Utrecht, to the Bishop of Pistoia, March, 1782, he com- 
plained of this unclerical conduct : " What a scandal," 
replied the zealous Abbe, " to see monks at Florence 
giving in their convents, comedies, masqued balls, &c. ; 
and to see the Nuncio of his Holiness present at them !" 

But nothing could damp the courage or zeal of Ricci. 
The examination was continued, and the report of it 
was sent to Leopold, who commissioned his charge 
d'affaires at the Court of Rome to bring the subject 
before the Pope with all diligence. 

The Grand Duke testifiedlhs impatience for a reply 
to his demands, by sending a courier extraordinary, 
who was not to quit Rome without an answer. The 



FEMALE CONTENTS. 07 

result was expected as anxiously by many of the nuns, 
as by Leopold ; and the examination into the abuses 
of the convent of Clement was stopped, till it should 
be known. In the mean time, fresh proofs were every 
day sent to Ricci of the licentiousness of the monks 
and nuns. The public places and the shops of Prato 
resounded with reports of their excesses ; and there 
was not a female who had been on an errand to the 
convent, who had not some anecdote to tell of their 
conduct. The boarders bore the same testimony to 
the barefaced vices of the nuns; and one mentioned 
that she had seen a play of Goldoui's, "La Vedova 
Sealtra," performed much better by the nuns of Cathe- 
rine than at the theatre. The Confessor was the most 
conspicuous of the spectators, and the performance 
was followed by conduct not fit to be related. 

Ricci had taken every precaution in his power to 
stop the evil of this public scandal, but in vain ; and 
he was obliged at last to have recourse to sending the 
two accused nuns to Florence. This was tbe more 
ary, as the sisters had been seized with the spirit 
of proselytism, and, having lost the opportunity of 
spreading their opinions through the convent, they 
made an effort to corrupt the persons appointed to at- 
tend them in their confinement. Before their depart- 
ure from his diocese, Ricci had them again examined, 
together with their companions, and made them sign 
their confessions in a formal manner before the proper 
legal authorities. What was most remarkable, was 
this, that Buonamif i, in making her deposition, kept 
adding explanations of the most indelicate nature, to 
develop the system of impiety and mysticism which 
had led her into error. She and Spighi were sent to 
Floren< e by night in separate carriages, attended by a 
priest, a layman, and an aged female: they were put 
into the Hospital des ' where their 

l »< ■ 1 1 • i \ ior tranquil and settled. 

Ricci n a full account of the wretched men- 

tal condition of the unfortunate namici 

■ at natural ability, and had com- 
9 



98 SECRETS OF 

posed several pieces of poetry of considerable merit. 
She had read Voltaire and Rousseau, and had stored 
her mind with their opinions. But her understanding 
had been chiefly perverted by the corruption of her 
manners. Imbued with both the impurities and the 
errors of the Gnostics, she began to make converts of 
her companions to her own ideas, but was contented 
with their becoming accomplices in her licentious con- 
duct without penetrating farther into the mysteries of 
her system. Spighi, on the contrary, she believed to 
be more capable of comprehending her whole scheme 
of doctrine ; but the latter was of an inferior mind to 
her teacher, and was not equally able, when examined. 
to elude the questions which were intended to lay open 
their conduct and opinions. Buonamici had sufficient 
subtlety and knowledge of the scriptures to torment her 
examiner, Longinelli, who afterwards acknowledged 
that there were many of her sophisms put so inge- 
niously, that at the time he was unable properly to 
combat them. Ricci said, "it is impossible to consider 
the frightful errors into which these deluded women 
had fallen, without horror." The holiest rites of reli- 
gion had been subjected by them to the most disgusting 
obscenities ; every doctrine of scripture-was interpreted 
by them so as to authorize some shameful indulgence ; 
and they pretended that for whatever they did or be- 
lieved, they had the special illumination of the Holy 
Spirit. 

The Bishop of Pistoia remitted to Rome whatever 
information he obtained on this important affair. At 
first this attention seemed to be well received, but it 
soon became different. Cardinal Pallavicini, the only 
one who had induced the Court of Rome to act at all 
reasonably, was obliged, on account of his health, to 
retire into the country, and leave the office of Secretary 
of State to Cardinar Rezzonico. The first indication 
which the latter gave of his disposition, was in his re- 
ply to Cardinal Corsini, who had asked him to confer 
upon Ricci, without delay, authority over the Dominican 
convents in his diocese. His answer was only virulent 



LLE CONVENTS. 99 

abuse of the Bishop, an J of his conduct respecting the 
devotion of the Sacred Heart. 

Cardinal Rezzonico was at the head of the Jesuit 
faction ; the Dominican party joined it, and the league 
was strengthened by the common dangers and interests 
of both. A powerful party was thus formed against 
Ricci : but his resolution remained unshaken. He con- 
tinual to write to Rome, and to every one whom he 
thought able to assist him in obtaining the consent oi 
the I 'ope to his reformation of the convent of Catherine. 
His Idler to Cardinal Corsini, dated July, 1781, is as 
follow 

" What I have ascertained by means of the examin- 
ation held by the Inquisitor-extraordinary, fills me with 
horror; and the two unfortunate wretches have not 
<>nly con firmed what was said by the nuns and the 
1 oarders, but have even, with unspeakable impudence, 
said still more, confessing even a most horrible abuse 
of tin' sacrament of the eucharist. With the exception 
of a Portuguese ex-jesuit, Bottillo, who conversed with 
them every day lor an entire summer, after they had 
dread y infected, I have not been able to discover 
with certainty any others guilty of teaching them such 
wicked principles; and even on him nothing can be 
positively fixed, except indecent acts and language. 
Ricci .elds, that the two nuns only sought in their re- 
plies to exculpate the Dominicans from the charge of 
being their accomplices; which is also apparent from 
their original examinations. We have the testimony 
ivia Peraccini to fill up that void in their con- 
ns. Taken with the information given by Buo- 
namici and Spighi themselves, it serves to establish 
irrefutably the truth of what was indeed most probable, 
that die confessors and priors whom they name, were 
the sole teachers of tie; Spiiiozisui, materialism, quiet- 
rid licentiousness, with which these nuns were 
infected." 

\ ! Her of Ricci to the same Cardinal, July, 1781, 

" The conduct pursued by so many provincials, 



100 SECRETS OF 

priors, and confessors, in this and in other convents, 
would make one apprehend that the evil was in the 
body, and that they systematically held opinions con- 
trary to the law of Jesus Christ .With what con- 
fidence can bishops admit these men to the office of 
confessors, among whom we know that such evil 
prevails ?" 

The Bishop of Pistoia also wrote to the Pope, and 
sent him a detailed report of the principles which form- 
ed the doctrine maintained by the two nuns of Cathe- 
rine of Prato. These principles were all deduced from 
the answers made by tbe two nuns themselves in their 
examinations already given. 

In another letter, Ricci informs the Pope that the 
two nuns, who had been removed to Florence, as well 
as those who remained at Prato, refused to accuse any 
monk of their order, and that they even complained 
bitterly of the suspicions entertained against their con- 
fessors. They maintained that they had no need either 
of books, or of instructions, written or verbal, to form 
into a system the doctrines they professed, and which, 
they asserted, arose spontaneously in their mind. The 
Bishop of Pistoia added to his letter the depositions of 
the nuns of Catherine of that city, made in 1775, when 
that convent was taken from under the direction of the 
Dominicans, — depositions of which the subjects display 
the same errors as were afterwards found among the 
nuns of Prato, and which were ascribed to the instruc- 
tions and insinuations of the monks. He relates this 
circumstance as a new proof of what it was so import- 
ant to demonstrate fully, that these monks were alone 
guilty of all the disorders in the convent of Prato, 
whither they had gone to take the spiritual direction 
of the nuns of their order, after having perverted those 
oi Pistoia. 

In 17S1, Ricci also wrote to Vasquez, General of 
the order of the Augustinians, to beg of him to have 
Buonamicrs brother, who was under him, examined, 
and whom the depositions showed to have been in a 
very intimate relation with the convent of Prato. 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 10] 

Vasquez replied, that this monk was very simple, and 
i\ en scrupulous ; so much so. that he thought one time 
he ought to denounce his sister, for having spoken in 
his presence some suspicious words on the subject of 
religion. 

In the above-mentioned letter to Vasquez, Ricci says: 
11 The two unfortunate wretches, and especially Buona- 
jjiici. have deposed, at Florence, several additional cir- 
cumst;:uces. and have mentioned the Dominicans as 
being their teachers and encouragers in that school of 
iniquity." 

The suspicions of the Bishop of Pistoia were thus 
completely confirmed, and there remained not the least 
doubt of the moral and religious depravity of the entire 
order o[ Dominic, — a depravity which the monks had 
incessantly labored to propagate, by initiating in the 
system of the most impious materialism, the nuns who 
were afterwards to minister to their sensual pleasures. 
This order was not the only one which had thus or- 
ganized licentiousness by means of false opinions. In 
.> letter from Signor Foggini to the Bishop of Pistoia, 
Rome, July, 17S1, are these words: 

•• f was (old yesterday, that the first seducer of this 

convent was a Jesuit. I know a monastery in which 

it used to make the nuns lift up their clothes, 

ng them that they thereby performed an act of 

virtue Because they overcome a natural repugnance." 

It had been falsely reported at Rome, that neither 
tlic General of the Dominicans, nor the Pope, who 
were ili" natural superiors of the nuns, had been in- 
formed of any thing with which they should have been 
made acquainted. This, it was said, was a sufficient 
proof that unlawful means had hecn taken to assist the 
usurpation of the rights and authority of the Holy Sec. 
Ricci, who saw ;ill the importance of such an accusa 
lion, [osl no time in proving that the Dominican nuns 
had made frequent appeals to Rome and to their supe 
riors. without obtaining a reply. They had especially 
id Pius VI., and the General Bonadois, but in 
vain. 

<r 



i.aw . 



One of the most important circumstances in this sin- 
gular affair, is the maimer in which the Pope and the 
General of the Dominicans were implicated in a matter 
of heresy, profanation, sacrilege, impiety, and licen- 
tiousness, — a matter of which they knew all the details, 
but which they seem to have regarded as calling for 
concealment rather than punishment. This circum- 
stance will make every truly religious mind shudder. 
Besides the wrath of the head 0A1 monastic order of 
shameful celebrity, and of the head of all Catholics, 
against those who could not extirpate errors and put 
an end to turpitude, except by making them public, 
the following pieces will serve to demonstrate com- 
pletely what we have advanced — the authority of the 
pious Bishop of Pistoia. 

Pius VI. in his insolent brief to Ricci, dated May, 
asserted that he himself would not have dared to com 
ceive suspicions against the most holy order of the 
Dominicans. Abbe Mengoni had but little trouble in 
turning this childish fear into ridicule. He proves 
that the Pope might easily have satisfied himself of 
the exact truth of all that the Bishop of Pistoia and 
Prato had written to him relative to the Dominican 
monks and nuns. He had only to direct his Nuncio 
at Florence to search the archives of Pistoia, and he 
would have found all the disorders in the convents of 
Tuscany spiritually directed by the monks of Dominic, 
disorders that had been known to prevail during one 
hundred and forty years. Moreover, should not the 
Pope have recollected the reasons which induced him 
to take from under the government of the Dominicans 
five convents of Siena, Pisa, and Pistoia, a little after 
the denunciations of the year 1774, of which he had a 
perfect knowledge ? 

It is clear from a letter of Foggini to Ricci, written 
at Rome, July, 1781, that there had been seen a sort 
of confession made to the Pope by a nun of Catherine 
of Prato, before Ricci was informed of what was pass- 
ing in that convent, and which had undoubtedly been 
put into the hands of the pontifical Secretary of state. 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 103 

Teresa di Gesu, a nun of Sepolcro, wrote, that she had 
made Sister Spighi write a similar confession to the 
General of the Dominicans ; that she had herself ad- 
dressed the General relative to that affair, and had 
concealed from him nothing of all that had come to 
her knowledge. This did not prevent Pius VI. from 
asserting in his brief; " That, in the Secretary's office, 
there was nothing of the disorders now discovered." 

In a letter from Ricci to Seratti, secretary of the 
Grand Duke, written August, 1781, he says, there had 
just been found the letters of a Capuchine nun of 
Borgo, or Sepolcro, and of a lay sister of Spighi. It is 
plain from them, "That the 'facts were known to 
many ; that they had recourse to abjurations with the 
greatest facility ; that Monsignor Ippoliti, who was 
almost immediately assured that they had laid down 
their errors, had found out something wrong," &c. 

Other letters of the Capuchine, prove that Spighi 
had endeavored to seduce her ; that she had other 
companions besides Buonamici ; that these were also 
friends of the Capuchine, and ceased to write to her 
when she spoke plainly to Spighi, and dropped the 
correspondence. These letters, moreover, prove that 
information was given at Rome ; and that the General, 
wlm says thai he finds nothing in his archives, must 
have known it from that time. 

The Advocate Zanobetti, in a letter to the Bishop of 
Pistoia, written from Rome, October, 1781, says: 
: ' Every week this haughty General, F. Quinones, of 
the Dominicans, is ;it ;i dinner-party of infidels and 
libertines." Zanobetti pitied the Pope, who seemed 
ignoranl "ofwhal human wickedness is under the 
veil oif hypocrisy, and with the certainty of impunity." 

< : It was his wish to praise the Dominicans, in his 
famous brief of reproach to Ricci;" adds the Bishop's 
correspondent, " that made the Pope engage so warmly, 
mid with so much discredil to himself, in a matter that 
makes him an object of pity." 

In a letter from Paul Delmare to Ricci, Genoa, 
August, 1781, he ays: "In Rome itself, whither the 



104 SECRETS OF 

regular orders send their youths to study, there is a 
college where infidelity is systematically inculcated." 

Cardinal Corsini. M. Foggini, the Avocat Fei, and 
the Abbe Martini, who was at Rome to be consecrated 
Archbishop of Florence, and who feared the same dis- 
orders in his diocese, determined on obtaining from 
the Pope a remedy for the convents of Pistoia, and 
such a remedy as might be applied to any, where a 
similar evil should be discovered. But they were 
diverted by Fei, who was himself devoted to Mamachi 
and the Minervites ; their conduct was, in conse- 
quence, so uncertain, that the Pope thought he should 
be able to take advantage of their feebleness ; and he 
signed a brief addressed to Ricci, entirely drawn up by 
Zaccaria, an ancient Jesuit, and by Mamachi, the most 
violent of the Dominicans, devoted to the Roman Court. 

We have spoken of the singular propositions con- 
tained in this brief of the Pope, and particularly of the 
misplaced and unseasonable eulogy which he there 
passe* on the order of Dominic. This eulogy is fol- 
lowed by one on the Inquisition, still more absurd 
than the first. " These may appear paradoxes," says 
Abbe Mengoni, "but it is certain that the Pontiff has 
commended a tribunal that is a dishonor to our holy 
religion." Pius VI. wished to withdraw the two nuns 
of Catherine from the inexorable public justice of the 
Bishop, to give them to the secret procedures of the 
Inquisition. There a general confession, in the style 
of those they had already made so often, would have 
not only obtained them entire pardon, but also have 
procured them the means of resuming their old course; 
as that tribunal is only severe towards those whose 
conduct and known sentiments might influence public 
opinion, so as to diminish the authority and the reve- 
nues of the clergy. Mengoni well observes, the Inqui- 
sition was, under the wise Leopold, only a vain name 
in Tuscany; "where, far from giving a sanguinary 
monk the power to burn people, and cruelly persecute 
them, this tribunal is curbed." 

The other injurious passages of the Pope's letter to 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 105 

Ricci, may be deduced from the reply which the 
Bishop of Pistoia made him, August, 1781. 

After having- complained bitterly of being treated by 
the Pontiff as a man of bad faith, as a fanatic, a liar, 
a calumniator, a seditious person, a usurper of the 
rights of others, &c. ; Ricci endeavors to evince again 
what he had already proved so often respecting the 
Dominicans, who must be regarded as. the seducers of 
the nuns. 

" It is certain, that the connivance of the provincials, 
priors, and confessors, who have been for so many 
years with this society, and who were all informed of 
lis evils, is inexcusable. If 1 became apprehensive of 
such evil having spread to other convents, I had very 
great reason for it, since, from the depositions made 
sir years ago by the nuns of Catherine, and of which 
the originals are in the Secretary's office, it appears 
that the same impious opinions entertained by the two 
unfortunate nuns, were held and taught, though not 
so completely reduced to system, in that convent, by 
some Dominican monks, who afterwards went as con- 
fessors and priors, or were some way else interested 
in the government of these other convents." 

He then repeats, that the confessor, on taking pos- 
session of his office, used openly to choose a mistress 
among the nuns ; and that, when any of them were 
sick, there was a fete at the convent. The confessor 
made the nuns attend him at table, and there he played 
cards and danced with them, &c. "Need we be 
astonished, 11 aid he, "if the disorders of so many nuns, 
who had been all tempted, and many seduced, should 
eventually have spread through the town, or if their 
scandalous opinions and actions should have been the 
subject of conversation in public circles?" 

Ricci immediately carried the brief he had received 
to Leopold, who, enraged al its contents, determined 
upon replying to it himself. He sent a very strong 
remonstrance to Koine. I [e complained in ii of the 
Pope's conduct to the Bishop, whom he determined 
to protect with all his power. He added, that he 



106 SECRETS OF 

would never consent that the nuns should be delivered 
over to the ecclesiastical authority, as the Pope had 
ordered ; and he openly threatened to provide for the 
reformation of all the convents in his dominions accord- 
ing to his own discretion, if the Pope refused to sub- 
mit them to the spiritual authority of their ordinary. 

The C»urt of Rome immediately replied, that the 
Grand Duke might follow his own discretion with 
regard to the two nuns, and that the other convents 
in Tuscany should in future be under the power of 
the bishops onlv. The pope found himself compelled 
to write to Ricci in terms totally opposite to those ex- 
pressed in the brief, and to grant him all he asked. 
This unexpected proceeding of Leopold confounded 
both the Holy See and its partisans in Tuscany, whose 
steps it was necessary incessantly to watch, in order to 
take away the possibility of their re-union. 

Ricci mentions, that the Spanish minister at Rome 
sent the papers relative to this affair to his court, to 
serve as a model for the reforms of a similar kind 
which they proposed to undertake in Spain. Nothing 
is more useful than thus to show that correct actions 
are at the same time honorable, and that, in proportion 
as they extend their beneficial efforts, they increase the 
reputation of their authors. The circumstance just 
mentioned is also of importance in showing that Rome 
never yields but to necessity ; and that feebleness and 
timidity find justice and right of no avail, in a contest 
with that vain and selfish court. 

The Pope, who had been completely overcome in the 
affair of Ricci, took his revenge on the General of the 
Dominicans, whom he punished by two terrible repri- 
mands for having disguised the true state of things at 
Prato, and thus brought his court into such a humiliat- 
ing situation. He also reproached him with having 
permitted certain bad theses to be discussed in the 
convent of Mark at Florence ; and in fact, so terrified 
the poor monk, that he left the pontifical audience in 
such a condition of grief and fright, as to be unable to 
find the door of the apartment. The Grand Duke, on 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 107 

ins part, ordered the Avocat Fei before him, and gave 
him a similar castigation for his want of good service. 

As soon as Ricci had obtained his authority, he did 
every thing in his power to soften the affliction which 
the nuns felt from his success. He gave them permis- 
sion to choose their own confessor out of a list he laid be- 
fore them of seculars and regulars. They expressed 
the most lively desire to have, at least, a chaplain of 
their own order ; but Ricci resisted all their solicita- 
tions. He had been too well taught the dissolute 
character of these monks, to remit his severity ; and 
Leopold had himself prohibited any indulgence of the 
kind requested. So determined was he, therefore, in 
his resistance, that he refused the permission to the 
convent of Vincent, to which the Archbishop of Flo- 
rence had promised this favor in the name of Ricci, 
who, he falsely said, had given him his word on this 
subject. The affair terminated in the disgrace of the 
Archbishop. From this epoch Ricci dates the enmity 
of .Martini, and as a consequence, that of Seratti ; 
whom the prelate had no difficulty in irritating against 
the protege of their common master. 

The two affairs, that of the Sacred Heart, and that 
pf the Dominicans, united both the disciples of 
Dominic and those of Loyola against Ricci. He was 
attacked on all sides, and it was only the esteem and 
particular protection of Leopold, that enabled him to 
resist the intrigues and mischievous intentions of his 
adversaries. Even this, however, was another cause 
of enmity against him; for it made him disliked by all 
the ambitious members of the Tuscan court, among 
whom especially may be mentioned Seratti, the friend 
both of Martini and the Nuncio. 

About this time Ricci had several disputes, both with 
Rome and the prelates, about the keeping of Lent. It 
was his constant desire to bring the church as much as 
possible back to its ancient dicipline. His attempts in 
this respect appear to have been dictated by the same good 
en e. which guided him in his other reforms, lie in 
some measure succeeded, but brought on himself, as in 



108 SECRETS OF 

the other affairs he took in hand, a whole host of oppo- 
nents. Another circumstance also, which gave him a 
great deal of uneasiness, was the dangerous and fanat- 
ical conduct of the Lent preachers, whose manner of 
exercising their ministry had obtained them, in many- 
places, the name of Sacred Comedians. These men 
carefully sought the most frequented churches, the 
pulpits most in repute, and used every means to get 
themselves chosen by the magistrates, or by those who 
had the appointment. It was yet worse in the country. 
They preached sermons there, which they had received 
by inheritance, or which were drawn from the archives 
of their convents. From his first arrival at Pistoia, 
the zealous Bishop opposed these missionaries, and 
succeeded in deterring the timid from continuing their 
mischievous practices. 

During the Lent of 1782, the monk who preached 
at the cathedral had the boldness to abuse the pro- 
ceedings of the government in no very measured terms. 
Ricci admonished him to refrain from all such expres- 
sions in future. The missionary promised to obey the 
injunction ; but he almost immediately broke his word. 
The Bishop believed himself called upon to put a stop 
to this scandal. The preacher Avas strongly repri- 
manded. He, on the other hand, threatened to leave 
the city, which he knew would give rise to con- 
siderable disturbance ; but at the moment measures 
were about to be taken against him, he was seized 
with a panic, submitted himself, and gave a promise 
of never again committing the same error. About 
that time, the Archbishop Martini, being opposed in 
all his conduct to Ricci. imposed upon the regulars in 
his diocese who had no cure of souls, the duty of cat- 
echising in the churches on Sundays and feast-days. 
This order was given, says Ricci, to astonish all those 
who knew the just complaints which had been made 
at the Council of Trent, against the teaching of monks. 
The Secretary for the jurisdiction of the Prince cited 
the example of the Florentine prelate with much ap- 
probation to the other bishops, and Ricci saw himself 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 109 

obliged to appeal to Leopold. Having received re- 
newed promises of protection, he issued a decree, for- 
bidding any regular's preaching in his diocese, before 
his doctrine and his principles had undergone an 
examination. The result was, that the monks no 
longer presented themselves as preachers ; and the 
greater part of those already engaged, retired. He 
also obliged the regulars before preaching, even in 
their own churches, to go and receive the benediction 
of the cures. This raised more enemies against him 
than all he had before done. 

In supplying the void which the want of sermons 
had left, he ordered the cures and their assistants to 
give expositions of the sacrament. Another means 
employed for the instruction of the people, was the 
publication of a good catechism. Ricci chose from 
among all the Jansenist catechisms that which seemed 
the best adapted for his purpose: those of Colbert and 
of M<M i]Hii\-. otherwise so excellent, were rejected, for 
fear of giving unnecessary offence to the Court of 
Rome, from which it was necessary to keep all sus- 
picion of false doctrine. He preferred the catechism 
of Grourlin, which had received the approval of the 
Inquisition, and had been recommended by Ippoliti, 
his predecessor. Ricci prepared the publication by a 
pastoral letter, in which he attacks the various errors 
which had crept into the Church by departing from 
the study of the Scriptures. 

Koine could scarcely retain heT indignation, when 
Leopold suppressed the taxes, all of which Tuscany 
had hitherto scrupulously paid into her treasury. She, 
however, entirely lost her patience at the abolition of 
the tribunal of the Inquisition. This tribunal had 
been always held by the Frlres Mineurs Conventuels. 
The imprudence of an [nquisitor, contributed to de- 
prive it of its power under the government of the 
I [ouse of I .orraine. Thomas ( Irudeli, a man of letters, 
at thai time a prisoner in the dungeons of the Holy 
( nlice. found means to inform his friends of his situa- 
tion, and to assur< them that, if he was not speedily 
Id 



110 SECRETS OF 

freed, the bad treatment which he received, acting upon 
a delicate and feeble frame, would inevitably prove 
fatal to him. Count de Richecourt, the head of the 
Regency, was informed by those who had the boldness 
to interest themselves in the affair, of all that had 
occurred. He instantly delivered Crudeli from those 
wretches, and demanded of the Court of Vienna the 
abolition of the odious Inquisition. A long negotiation 
was entered into with Rome. The Tuscan "Govern- 
ment would not interfere, and was contented with 
modifying the power of the Holy Office. Pius VI., 
however, would yield nothing; and his resentment 
against Joseph and Leopold became so violent, that he 
suffered the most inflammatory pamphlets to be pub- 
lished against them. But his anger was chiefly di- 
rected against Ricci ; who, it was "believed, had insti- 
gated the Duke to all these things : but the Duke was 
too enlightened to brook such a" submission, and was 
not wilting to share the credit of his measures with 
any one. 

The spring of the year 1782 was so excessively 
rainy, that the crops were near being all destroyed, 
and every measure which superstition could invent, 
was employed to remove the threatened calamity. 
Ricci opposed these superstitious practices, and took 
occasion to give many salutary instructions on the 
subject of image-worship, many of the greatest errors 
of which he endeavored to extirpate. A long contest 
with the monks was the consequence. At first it was 
only a war of words, but his adversaries at last had 
recourse to the lowest kind of abuse. The priests who 
were attached to Ricci, were abused in the public 
streets, and insulted with popular songs containing 
every species of invective. Out of Tuscany, the whole 
order of the Franciscans took part in the dispute, till 
at last even the friends of the Bishop began to suspect 
that his procedure was imprudent, and calculated to 
favor the sect of the Phantasiasts. 

About this time the Grand Duke signified his ap- 
proval of Ricci's plan for the establishment of aa 



FEMALE CONVENTS. Ill 

Ecclesiastical Academy at Pistoia ; and that he might 
have a fit situation for it, gave him the convent of the 
Olivetains, which he was on the point of suppressing. 
Armed with this decree, the Bishop, for fear of fraud, 
unexpectedly signified it to the monks when they were 
assembled for dinner in the refectory. At the same 
time he took possession of the convent, and of the 
country-houses which belonged to the monks. He put 
his seal upon all the papers, and had an inventory 
made of the different effects, and of the furniture, with- 
out causing any noise or disturbance. The nobles of 
Pistoia could not repress their chagrin at this event, 
which deprived them of a retreat where they placed 
their children who interfered with their ambitious 
projects ; and furnished them with the means of dissi- 
pating, either by gaming or conversation, their languor 
and sloth. 

Some proofs exist of the amusements followed by 
those devout nobles. The Abbe/s tables du quartier 
were found covered with the reckonings of a game, 
which showed the manner of passing their evenings. 
At another place cards were discovered; and the 
library of the convent, which consisted of only about a 
hundred volumes, was in the most miserable state of 
filth and confusion. The Scriptures, divided into 
several little volumes, were not even complete. Such 
was tin' state of the library, that there was nothing in it 
of any value, but some editions of the year 1400; the 
rest consisted of the old casuists, and other such au- 
thors, so thai Leopold said he would not give five shil- 
lings for (In' whole ! Such was the state of this estab- 
lishment, as respected its interior; but the building 
itself had been jusl repaired, and Ricci was overjoyed 
at being enabled by the acquisition of it to open his 
academy. His first object, after obtaining this situa- 
tion, was to find a good theological professor; and not 
hoping to obtain one in Tuscany, lie applied to the 
celebrated Tamberini, head of the new theological 
school ;it Pavia, who senl him Jean-Baptiste Ganzi, of 
the same school, on whose principles he might rely. 



SECRETS OF 



In all his subsequent measures he did nothing without 
consulting his friends,— the Jansenists of France and 
Holland. The success of the institution answered his 
labor : and when at his own fall, the institution also 
fell, he expressed the deepest regret at the event, and 
at the barbarous conduct of those by whom it was 
occasioned. 

Ricci was extremely desirous of establishing moral 
conferences in his diocese, not merely formal, as they 
had hitherto been, but such as were likely to produce 
real practical good. This was at the epoch when 
Leopold had reduced the regulars within the jurisdic- 
tion of their bishops. Ricci took advantage of it to 
make them assist the seculars in the monthly confer- 
ences ; and succeeded beyond his expectation. The 
order he had received to inspect the studies of the re- 
gulars, induced him to visit the convent of the Mineurs 
Observations at Giaccherino, near Pistoia, in order to 
examine the library. The collection of books in this 
convent was valuable and well chosen; "but such," 
says Ricci, " was the sloth and bad management of 
the monks, that it was left in a state which rendered 
it perfectly useless to the pupils. The room where the 
books we're kept was the least known, and the most 
seldom frequented in the hoifse. There were even 
some superiors of convents who could not say where 
the library was, and who followed Ricci to discover in 
what part of the convent the books were to be found. 
At Giaccherino, the library was in a little room devoted 
to the reception of all old and useless papers. The cob- 
webs which hung from the ceiling covered the unfor- 
tunate visitor every step he set, and which he had been 
prepared to expect, from the difficulty experienced by 
the monks in finding the key of the room." A promise, 
however, was given of amendment, and the Bishop 
went away satisfied. A similar circumstance took 
place at the convent of the Paolotti at Pistoia ; from 
which the Provincial, thinking that books were a use- 
less kind of furniture, had sent all it possessed to the 
convent of the same order at Florence, to obtain the 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 115 

thanks of the monks in the capital. It will not cause 
surprise, to find that the regulars were not much de- 
voted to study ; so far, indeed, was this from being the 
case, that they gave themselves up to ev r ery kind of dis- 
sipation, and when some of them were not so disposed, 
they were even prohibited by the superiors from using 
books purchased with their own money. 

Kirci examined some of the students at Giaccherino, 
to discover the state of religious knowledge among 
them, and found them in deplorable ignorance. Ques- 
tions the most useless were discussed in the most bar- 
barous style of scholastic folly, while the great doctrines 
of religion were treated in a manner so ridiculous, that 
even Molina himself professed himself offended. The 
infallibility of the Pope, his absolute temporal power 
over princes, and all the most silly doctrines of the 
Court of Rome, were stoutly defended by them, and 
made to support the most preposterous opinions. 

"The Franciscans," says Ricci, "are for the most 
part, in the present day, without the least learning, 
even withoul the principles of grammar. Latin is al- 
most entirely unknown among them, and when tried, 
they were unable to translate the decisions of the 
Council of Trent, the Roman Catechism, or the his- 
torical books of the Scriptures. They were obliged to 
employ a dictionary to construe their commonest les- 
sons : and the cleverest among them never thought of 
looking into the subjects which they were appointed 
to teach, till they were made doctors, or professors of 
theology! < Hhers lei s clever, were made preachers or 
confessors; in which capacities they only consulted 
some old and well-known casuist, or preached the ser- 
mons they had found in the convent." Ricci employed 
every means in his power to remedy these abuses, but 
in vain : and he saw his best and most useful projects 
cither eluded by art, or stopped by the power of the 
monks, or the bad conducl of I .eopold's ministers. 

The Bishop found, that to commence an attack on 
tin monks is to bid farewell for ever to all />ra<-r <imt 
tranquillity. The first antagonist he had to meet, in 
10* 



114 SECRETS OF 

his endeavor to do away with the prerogatives of the 
monks in his diocese, was the monk Lampredi, to 
whom, very imprudently, had been given the power 
of visiting the convents of his order, in quality of Pro- 
vincial. Ricci opposed him, and succeeded in prevent- 
ing Lampredi from making his fortune, which a visitor 
on such an occasion is almost sure of doing. The 
same man wished, on some foolish pretence, to remove 
the college of Giaccherino elsewhere ; but the Bishop 
prevented any such change taking place, saying, that 
such a thing could not be done without an express or- 
der from the Prince. Every victory which Ricci thus 
obtained, furnished him with a reason for writing to 
Leopold, whom he assured of the possibility of reform- 
ing the whole monkish system, which was principally 
to be done by taking away all the privilegss of the par- 
ticular monastic dignities, and by making every con- 
vent a separate isolated establishment ; thus doing 
away with that imperium in imperlo. 

The Bishop was diligent, notwithstanding all oppo- 
sition, in scattering abroad the most useful books. One 
of these was the Opusculum, in which the Lieutenant- 
Governor of Pistoia pretended that the opinions of 
Calvin and Zuinglius were supported. The question 
was judged by the theologians of Florence ; and being 
decided in the negative, the Lieutenant only got a sharp 
rebuke from Leopold for his officious zeal. Ricci was 
next charged with the superintendence of three con- 
gregations of priests at Pistoia ; and either to reform 
or suppress them, as he saw fit. He employed the 
gentlest means to bring these ecclesiastics to reason, 
but in vain ; and was then obliged to have recourse 
to compulsion. He also reformed an abuse which had 
been long existing. The prebendaries of the cathedral 
of Pistoia enjoyed a very rich revenue without perform- 
ing any service, which they got done for them by 
chaplains, to whom they paid a very small stipend, 
and who were, consequently, the most ignorant of the 
clergy. 

This took place in 1782. The following year, Ric- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 115 

enemies commenced their attacks with renewed 
violence. Placards were put upon the cathedral gate, 
with the inscription " Orate pro episcopo nostro hetero- 
( l< i si >" — Pray for our heretic bis/top ! He was accused 
of heresy, and anonymous letters were sent to him full 
of menaces and abuse. Nor were these threats alto- 
gether without meaning; for his domestics had been 
Bribed to admit people into his study; and he was as- 
sured that, on his going to his seat in the country, a 
conspiracy had been formed to take away his life, 
which design an assassin had offered to put in execu- 
tion for five hundred crowns. So many dangers alien- 
ated from him his friends and relatives. The ministers 
of the Grand Duke, and even his colleagues, took ad- 
vantage of it to oppose his designs, and to raise against 
him new enemies at court. Rome also entered into 
the conspiracy, and condemned his Catechism; but 
the Bishop, taking advantage of the approbation which 
the [nquisition had expressed respecting that of Venice, 
retained his Catechism in use, without taking notice 
of the prohibition. 

Leopold wished to render his reform general, and 
(■very where senl the same, instructions and the same 
orders, hut he was not always seconded and obeyed. 
About this time he addressed a circular to all the 
bishops of his states, sending them at the same time 
the pastoral letter of the Archbishop of Saltzburg, of 
June, L782. " Leopold intended," says Ricci, " to lead 
the people c. u i ii 1 1 1 1 te ( I to his care, gradually to remove 
from the forms of worship all tin' superstitious ohserv- 
ances thai then- own ignorance, or that of the clergy, 
or the a nihil ion., and avaricious spirit of the latter, had 
mingled with them ; and if he succeeded, he hoped to 
overcome the indifference of reasoners, and the incre- 
dulity of the learned towards religion, the natural re- 
sults of the gross debasement <>/' the />(>/>/(/<n- worship /*' 

This \\.i- equally the objeel of Ricci, who. as soon 
as he received from the Grand Duke the pastoral letter 
of the German Archbishop, hastened to follow up the 
views of the Prince his protector, lie reprinted the 



116 SECRETS OF 

letter, and sent a copy to each of the clergy, whom he 
begged to inform him of what was wanting to be done 
in his diocese, in order that God might there be wor- 
shipped "in spirit and in truth." The cures replied 
immediately ; and it was on their answers that Ricci 
founded the reforms he introduced into his diocese, and 
organized those which he afterwards reduced into a 
system, and which he fixed definitively on occasion of 
his famous synod. 

He limited himself, for the present, to " restricting 
the functions of the priests to the explanation of the 
Gospel during high mass, to the Catechism before and 
after vespers, and to benediction at the end of the cere- 
mony. He moreover ordered, that the litanies should 
be sung in the vulgar tongue, and that not more than 
fourteen candles should be lighted !" The people, thus 
deprived of the splendors of the ceremony, murmured 
more loudly than ever. Besides this, the Bishop, that 
the people might be induced to frequent their own 
parishes, ordered private chapels to be shut on Sun- 
days and holidays ; and forbade certain splendid cere- 
monies to be performed, which attracted the people 
from their labor, and from attending their parochial 
churches. 

The Grand Duke, seeing that all went according to 
his wishes in the diocess of Pistoia and Prato, loaded 
them with his favors. He granted to the seminary of 
Prato the convent of the Recollets, and gratified the 
new seminary of Pistoia with the suppressed convent 
of Claire. He gave the Dominican convent to the 
Dominican nuns, for the purpose of being employed 
as a school, under the protection of the Government. 
He inspected the improvements made by Ricci in his 
diocess, and was delighted to see that he had suppress- 
ed the number of altars, allowing only one in each 
church. " He encouraged me," says Ricci, " to make 
the same reforms in all my diocess. The project, 
however, was interrupted." 

The institution for the women styled Abb and on ate, 
was now removed to the convent which the Dominican 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 117 

nuns had quitted. Ricci, hoping in time to form use- 
ful women and good mothers of families, obtained per- 
mission of the Prince to restore that institution to its 
original simplicity. The women were now seen pub- 
licly at church on Sundays and other holidays. Op- 
portunities were afforded them to marry, and to vend 
silk handkerchiefs, for the manufacture of which they 
were famous. The noble governors of the hospital 
thought these reforms too radical, and addressed them- 
selves to the Grand Duke; but the latter ratified all 
Ricci had done. 

Unfortunately, all the measures which had been taken 
to produce a reform by the suppression of the cures of 
the old congregations, were eluded, or falsely interpre- 
ted, in Tuscany, where their execution was committed 
tn persons who brought them into contempt. Rome 
forgot nol to ,-issist in this. Defamatory libels were 
every where circulated against the Grand Duke and 
the Emperor, and sedition was preached from a variety 
of pulpits. Leopold was accused of changing, like 
Henry \ III. of England, the ancient faith; and the 
doctrine <>)' Ricci was represented as lull of heresy. 
None of the benefits produced by the new law were 
acknowledged by these blind bigots ; and it was only 
fear which prevented their opposing its execution, when 
Leopold showed himself decidedly resolved to main- 
tain if. "When a nation," says Ricci, "has blindly 
submitted for ages to the domination of priests and 
nobles, these latter do not neglect to profit by their 
respective situations. Although naturally adverse to 
each other, they league together to attack those who 
put then- privileges in danger, and who endeavor to 
break the spell by which the people are hound." 



118 SECRETS OF 



CHAPTER VII 



Ecclesiastical Assembly at Florence.— Acts passed by it. — Answers of the 
Bishops. 

The Episcopal assembly of Florence is less known 
out of Tuscany, than the Synod of Pistoia ; yet its 
history and its acts, will be interesting' to those who 
are desirous of knowing the principal opponents of the 
ecclesiastical reforms projected by Leopold. We shall 
add to it a few documents relative to the jurisdiction 
over the church which was exercised by the civil 
powers. They were printed during the lifetime of 
Leopold, and were intended to enlighten his clergy, 
and prepare the way for those measures to which he 
was desirous that they should agree, for the general 
welfare of the Tuscans. 

I. One of the seven quarto volumes which contain 
the acts alluded to, is entitled, "History of the Assembly 
of the Archbishops and Bishops of Tuscany, held at 
Florence in 17S7." It was printed at Florence, in 
1788 ; and drawn up as well as the other six volumes, 
by the Abbe Reginald Tanzini. 

The preface contains a deplorable picture of the 
ignorance and servility of the Tuscan priests at that 
period. 

" The famous constitution Un igen iius," it is observed, 
"which encountered so much opposition in France, was 
received in Tuscany without the slightest objection or 
hesitation ; for in a synod of Pistoia held in 1721, it was 
placed immediately after a short confession of faith. 

" Not only were the Bulls of the Popes considered 
as so many irrevocable laws, which were not subject 
to the smallest explanation ; but also, all the decrees 
and consultations of the Romish Congregations. If a 
book was inserted in the Index Expurgatorius, it was 
a sufficient reason for ordering it to be burned, or for 
locking it up in some inaccessible corner, to serve as 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 119 

food for worms, with the Koran, and writings of atheists 
and sceptics. 

" Every action, and every faulty and inconsiderate 
expression, which had happened to give offence to any 
hypocritical or ignorant female, were viewed in the 
light of crimes which it was proper to bring to the 
knowledge of the Inquisition, and to punish in a more 
terrible manner than ordinary offences against the laws 
of civil society. 

" The Count della Gherardesca, Archbishop of Flo- 
rence, with Incontrijthc able opponent of the Casuists, 
and even Martini, who were his successors, labored 
to dissipate such gross ignorance. The first had 
the Catechism of Montpelier translated into Italian, 
and distributed throughout his diocess. Rome con- 
demned the translation, and the prelate died of chagrin." 

Bishop Alamanni exerted himself in the same way to 
diffuse information through Pistoia and Prato. "The 
ignorance in that diocess was so deep-rooted and scan- 
dalous, that many of the priests not only did not under- 
stand, but could not even read Latin." Alamanni's 
vicar, win) bad the character of being the most learned 
person in his diocess, warmly opposed the plan of insti- 
tuting a theological professorship, under pretence "that 
it was dangerous to <tlh>ir the young clergy to investi- 
gate the evidences of religion, and become acquainted 
with the arguments which had been employed in 
attacking it." 

It whs (lie doctrine of Probabilism with which 
Alamanni had to contend ; and which he resisted suc- 
cessfully, though not without much disagreement, by 
opposing to it the morality of Concina. Such was the 
ungovernable violence of the two parties, that they 
had recourse not only to calumny, hut to blows ; and 
the < rovernmenl was finally obliged to banish the heads 
of the Anti-Concinniste faction. 

[ppoliti, who . licci ''il'il him, followed his example. 
The writings of the monks of Port-Royal, Arnauld, 
Nicole. Duguet, Gourlin, and Qnesnel, were dissemi 
nated during the time thai he was Bishop ; and Ricci, 
finally competed their triumph. 



120 SECRETS OF 

The diocesses of Colle and Chiusi followed the same 
example. 

Next follows a statistical account of the ecclesias- 
tical state of Tuscany. In 1784, the Grand Duchy 
contained the astonishing number of 7,957 secular 
priests ; 2,581 persons in orders of an inferior rank ; 
2,433 regular priests, with 1,627 lay-brothers, distri- 
buted over two hundred and thirteen convents; besides 
7,670 nuns, occupying a hundred and thirty-six estab- 
lishments of seclusion. 

Then succeeds a long enumeration of reforms effect- 
ed by the Grand Duke, before convoking that assembly, 
which was to put the finishing stroke to his ecclesias- 
tical designs, to prepare their ratification, and to give 
notice to" the approaching national council of the 
measures which he intended it to complete and put in 
force. 

Leopold endeavored to give fresh vigor to ecclesias- 
tical studies by the foundation of academies, which 
should be strictly confined to such an object ; and he 
strongly inculcated on the bishops the necessity of 
keeping a vigilant eye on the morals of the clergy, and 
of admitting no one into the priesthood, who was not 
in every respect worthy of becoming a member of it. 
He farther adopted every possible measure for prevent- 
ing the too great poverty, and consequent contempt, of 
the clergy ; he rendered the curacies perpetual, and 
compelled the curates to reside, and to perform their 
duties with punctuality. Next, he abolished the ex- 
emptions and noxious privileges enjoyed by the regu- 
lar clergy ; and it was his "desire that they should 
neither be dependent on Rome, or any superior, or on 
any bishop residing without the limits of the state. 
He never appointed any superiors but such as were 
Tuscans and natives of the kingdom ; he suppressed 
the class of hermits ; and he was anxious to prevent 
the payment of taxes to any one not residing within 
the kingdom. He prohibited females from assuming 
the religious habit before the age of twenty-five, and 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 121 

from making- formal profession before they were thirty. 
He reduced all the female convents where the com- 
munal life was not, or could not be strictly observed ; 
and converted them into conservatories entirely depen- 
dent on the Government, except in spiritual matters, 
in which no vows were required, and in which they 
were obliged to instruct young females, and to keep 
open school. He diminished the pomp of the church 
festivals and ceremonies, as well as their numbers; 
abolished all societies denominated Pious, all congre- 
gations, confraternities, and third orders, &c; and 
substituted for them a single confraternity, called the 
Confraternity of Charity, which was ordered to assist 
in the discharge of religious functions, in succoring 
and relieving the sick, in accompanying the viaticum, 
&c. He suppressed the Inquisition, and restored to 
the bishops the right of trying spiritual causes, exhort- 
ing them at the same time to conduct themselves with 
clemency and mildness. He forbade, in the strongest 
terms, the publication of any address, censure, or ex- 
oommunication, which had not been sanctioned by the 
royal Exequatur; he totally prohibited and suppressed 
the hulls /// caena and Ambitiosce ; abolished the privi- 
enjoyed by the priests of trying laymen in their 
courts; subjected every one in holy orders to the 
jurisdiction of the civil tribunals, when the offence 
charged was of a criminal character; and left to the 
iastical courts, merely the cognizance of matters 
of a purely spiritual nature. 

In a preliminary discourse, the author informs us, 
that th'' Tuscan bishops, in obedience to the orders of 
tin; Grand Duke, prepared to hold their diocesan 
synods, when they received from Leopold fifty-seven 
theological points, which Ik; desired them to consider, 
and to send him their answers. 

'I'Ih' same was signified in a second circular, dated 
January, L786, winch contained a declaration of the 
mi "H i ion of Leopold io purge religion of the abuses and 
superstitions by which it was disfigured, and to restore 
it to its primitive purity and perfection. He at the 
11 



128 SECRETS OF 

same time implored them to express their sentiments 
fearlessly and boldly on that head. " The intelligence 
and information of the Grand Duke were every where 
admired, and his fifty-seven points were reprinted in 
France." 

Ricci availed himself of this circumstance to hold a 
diocesan synod of Pistoia. 

The answers of the bishops to the fifty-seven points 
being far from uniform, the Grand Duke adopted the 
resolution of calling, previously to the convocation of 
the national council of which he had sketched the 
plan, an assembly of bishops, in which the matters in- 
tended to be agitated, should be prepared and discussed 
in such a way as to leave no pretext for opposition or 
discord. In March, 1787, the bishops were convoked ; 
and their assembly opened in the following April. 

The whole of Tuscany was occupied with this 
event, and more particularly those persons who had 
either been delighted with the suppression of the Je- 
suits, or who deplored that unexpected catastrophe. 
The former opposed, with the Prince and some Tus- 
can prelates, the pretensions of the Court of Rome and 
the superstitious notions of the vulgar, particularly the 
Worship of the Sacred Heart, Cordicoles, which was 
the rallying sign of the secret Society of the Jesuits, 
the impenetrable mystery of whose proceedings con- 
cealed the continual additions which it made to its 
members. The others, on the contrary, employed 
every means in their power to support that society, and 
were aided in their pernicious designs by the populace, 
the monks, and the Court of Rome. 

Three archbishops and fourteen bishops attended 
the first session, and were, each of them, accompanied 
by two or three legal advisers. A violent dispute took 
place in regard to the manner of expressing the opin- 
ion and will of the assembly, or rather on the canonical 
mode of procedure in councils of a similar kind ; the 
resolutions of the assembly, on that point, naturally 
serving as a model for the guidance of the approaching 
national council. The opposition party, that is five- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. * 123 

sixths of the assembly, loudly called for the plurality of 
votes, which were in their favor, as the best mode of 
expressing it ; the other party insisted on the unan- 
imity which the Grand Duke had demanded in his 
circular. The question was finally determined in 
favor of a plurality of votes, and the Bishops of Pistoia, 
of Colle, and of Ohiusi, were obliged to content them- 
selves with an insertion of their protest against this 
irregularity. 

The second session opened by a recommendation of 
secrecy in regard to the proceedings of the assembly, — 
a secrecy which had been violated in so scandalous a 
manner, in regard to what had taken place at the first 
meeting of the bishops, that the speeches of each of the 
members had been very currently reported in almost 
every house at Florence. 

They next proceeded to an examination of the three 
first points proposed by the Grand Duke. All the 
members agreed in the opinion expressed by the 
Prince, except in regard to the deliberative voice 
which be conferred on those who were only priests; 
and which the assembly, with the exception of the 
Bishops of Pistoia, Colle, and Ohiusi, and the canons 
and theologians Yccchi, Tanzini, Palmieri, Lon- 
ginelli, &c., would only recognise as consultative. In 
the very animated discussion which took place on the 
subject, the Bishop of Pescia behaved with the greatest 
violence, and allowed himself to be so transported with 
passion, that he accused Pahnieri of heresy, because he 
had proposed ;m examination of the right of the priests 
to sit as synodal judges. 1 i.ui n))i<-< I i, the adviser of the 
Archbishop of Pisa, gave the appellation of conventi- 
cles to those councils which had permitted such an 
irregularity ; notwithstanding his opponents distinctly 
proved that such had heeii the practice in the councils 
which were held in the timesof.the primitive Church. 

In the third session, the subject of the plurality or 
unanimity of votes, as necessary for guiding the deci- 
sions of the approaching council, was renewed. The 
fifteen bishops of the opposition party declared in 



124 SECRETS OF 

favor of a plurality, in all cases whatsoever ; the re- 
maining three, only in cases relating to the discipline 
of the Church, strict unanimity being always required 
in matters of faith. 

These three prelates gave in their vote, concerning 
the deliberative right of the priests in synodal assem- 
blies, for insertion among the acts. 

The assembly next proceeded to an examination of 
the fourth point, on which no discussion took place ; 
the necessity of correcting the missal and breviary 
having been agreed to by a resolution. The three 
metropolitans were ordered to execute this duty with 
as little delay as possible. 

The proposal for using the language of the country 
in the administration of the sacraments was not so 
well received ; and the opposition, in endeavoring to 
combat its propriety, gave proofs of their ignorance, 
which were very carefully exposed. However, after 
showing the opponents of the measure that the Latin 
language was universally understood and spoken, at 
the period of composing the liturgy, all of them agreed 
that it would be proper to employ a language which 
was familiar to the people. 

In regard to the fifth point, the fathers were unani- 
mously of opinion, that the bishops possessed the pri- 
vilege of granting all lawful dispensations. The op- 
position party maintained that the privilege of granting 
them, enjoyed by the court of Rome, ought to be re- 
spected ; but became divided as to whether it would 
he sufficient to demand from the Pope power to resume 
their ancient rights, or whether it would be most pro- 
per to receive at his hands the power necessary for 
granting dispensations. The three bishops of the 
adverse party refused to agree to this last proposition, 
because it would have the effect of making the episco- 
copal body be looked upon as merely the delegates, in 
that respect, of the Court of Rome, which ever after- 
wards, whenever it might think proper to repent of the 
concession, would resume the privilege under pretence 
of its being merely a temporary grant. These three 



FEMALE CONVENTS, 125 

prelates having finally agreed, for the purpose of attest- 
ing it by a specific act, to request permission to resume 
the exercise of their ancient rights, of which they only 
considered themselves the depositaries, and which they 
consequently could not give up, the Bishops of Sam- 
miniato and of Soana joined them. The others con- 
tinued their opposition, principally at the instigation 
of the Archbishop of Pisa. 

By order of the Grand-duke, the affair of the Bishop 
of Chiusi and Pienza was taken into consideration. A 
pastoral letter in regard to the hidden truths of sound 
doctrine, which he had addressed, in April, 1786, to 
the clergy and the orthodox part of his diocese, had 
been approved by several theologians of the highest 
merit and reputation, and was afterwards printed and 
published. Rome condemned it in the course of that 
year by a brief, which it transmitted to the prelate, 
accusing him of evil intentions, and enjoining him to 
retract. The prelate, in his reply, cleared himself 
from the accusation as to the purity of his intentions, 
of which, he said, no one had any right to judge; 
demonstrated the absolute impossibility of retracting 
the whole of what he had advanced in his pastoral 
address, inasmuch as it contained many unquestion- 
able articles of belief; and requested that the errors 
of which he had been guilty might be pointed out to 
him as soon as possible, as he only waited to be made 
aware of them, in order to retract them. Next year 
the Pope despatched another brief, much more violent 
than the first, and full of the grossest abuse, not only 
of the Bishop of Chiusi, hut of the whole episcopal 
body of Tuscany, of the Government, and of the 
Prince who was at ils head, who, it was there alleged, 
was tinctured with heterodox opinions. The prelate, 
■■it'tcr such a gross personal insult, in despair of receiv- 
ing any justice ;ii the hands of the Court of Rome, 
communicated the whole affair to the Grand Duke. 

There is also an excellent memorial by Ricci, which 
was read in the assembly, concerning the inalienable 
rights of the clergy to full and absolute jurisdiction 
IV 



126 SECRETS 0E 

over their diocesses — rights of which the councils nei- 
ther wished nor could deprive them, and which they 
have only explained hy the canons ; rights which all 
pastors are obliged to claim in full, and which they 
must exercise for the good of those committed to their 
charge. This is the passage which relates to the re- 
servations of the Court of Rome. 

" During the early ages of the Church, no instance 
occurs of any general and perpetual reservation by 
the councils in favor of the Pope, nor of any limitation 
of the power of the bishops prescribed by the Popes 
themselves. What now remains of the applications 
which were made to Rome at that time, are in fact any 
thing but reservations or limitations. The practice 
then was, to communicate to the Bishop of Rome the 
most difficult and important cases which occurred ; to 
inform her of the fortunate or unfortunate state of the 
churches which were spread abroad in different parts 
of the world, and to request her to interest herself in 
regard to them. The Church of Rome communicated 
in the same manner her affairs to the other churches, 
particularly to those which were the most celebrated 
and most respectable. As they only formed altogether 
one body and family under the authority of one su- 
preme and invisible" head, Jesus Christ, every thing 
which occurred, whether fortunate or unfortunate, was 
considered as affecting the whole. The communica- 
tions to the Church at Rome were naturally of more 
frequent occurrence than to any ether, from its being 
the most important and respectable. That circum- 
stance, however, does not by any means prove a right 
of reservation on her part, which is contradicted by 
what actually took place on such occasions ; the most 
authentic of the ancient decretals being only simple 
advices or exhortations. 

" Rome herself did not even pretend to the posses- 
sion of any legislative authority. The Popes, when 
they were consulted on any point, either solved the 
doubts which were proposed, or prescribed the obser- 
vation of rules, not on the authority of any laws en- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 



acted by themselves, or any right of reservation, but 
on that of tradition and the canons, to which they 
acknowledged themselves bound to yield obedience. 
Whenever they attempted a departure from these prin- 
ciples, or sought to convert them to any bad purpose, 
the rest of the churches protested against the irregu- 
larity of the proceeding, and boldly applied to it the 
proper remedy. 

■• There can be no doubt that the attempt to legislate 
for, and to command the rest of the churches, took its 
origin after the period of the false decretals, and that 
it was not made either immediately or at once ; for, in 
general, even the decrees of Innocent III., and Alex- 
ander Uf. retained, for a long time after that period, 
tin- mere character of exhortations and advices. The 
frequency, however, of these consultations, the univer- 
sal ignorance which prevailed everywhere except at 
Rome, and the political circumstances of the times, 
made the advice of the Popes to be carried into effect 
without the slightest hesitation or modification. Hence, 
in the course of time, they were considered as of equal 
authority with the laws ; while the Popes themselves, 
not finding any resistance to their injunctions, and 
pretending to believe that they were invested with 
authority to pronounce them, went so far as to arrogate 
that every thing relating to the church was within the 
cognizance of their jurisdiction. 

•■ Nothing is more common than to see absolute and 
unlimited power degenerating into excess and tyranny: 
and such was the ease with the authority of the Popes. 
'I'll'' extravagances of the despotism of the Court of 
Rome (rave rise tomurmursand dissatisfaction. The 
power which they enjoyed was never a source of 
in! tranquillity. The concordats of Germany 
and Prance, ill'' pragmatic sanctions, the liberties of 
th'' <; iliican Church, as they were called, are all of 
them to be considered as so many proofs of the opposi- 
tion which was made i<> the attempts of the Court of 
Rome, and as so many bulwarks raised by (he liishops 
and the people, with the view of preserving to them- 



12S SECRETS OF 

selves some portion of their primitive and indestruc- 
tible rights. 

" The councils of Constance and Basle wished to 
strike at the very root of the evil ; that of Trent at- 
tempted to restore to the bishops as much of their 
authority as the preponderance of the Court of Rome 
would permit. All these attempts have been unsuc- 
cessful ; and Rome, by the creation of its various Con- 
gregations, has devised so many methods of multiplying 
its reservations, that they have become so numerous as 
scarcely to leave at the disposal of the bishops a shadow 
of the authority which originally formed a part of the 
episcopal character." 

The seventh article was next taken into considera 
tion. The opposition spent but little time in combat- 
ing the uniformity of instruction and doctrine de- 
manded by Leopold, that it might let loose all its fury 
and violence against Augustin, whom it used every 
effort to blacken, as being the only source of that uni- 
form doctrine. Lampredi went so far as to declare the 
author a hot-headed declaimer ! The opposition 
bishops, not knowing either how to avert the blow 
with which they were threatened, or how they could 
deny the authority of a father of the Church so cele- 
brated as Augustin, offered to admit it, on condition 
that his works should always be accompanied by those 
of his faithful interpreter, Thomas. The Dominicans 
had succeeded in making that scholastic writer speak 
the language of the Jesuits, and they were desirous of 
making common cause with them. 

It was objected, however, that the consequence of 
such a proceeding, would be a return to all the ab- 
surdities of the ancient school ; that the writings of 
Augustin had been perfectly well understood until the 
time of Thomas, who had rendered them obscure by 
his attempts to explain them ; that Bams, Jansenius, 
and Quesnel, to whom it was pretended that he had 
given birth, made their appearance after his inter- 
preter ; and finally that the proposition of Mamachi, 
Augustinus eget Thoma interpreter Augustin requires 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 129 

the explanations of Thomas, had been tacitly con- 
demned by the See of Rome. It was only in conse- 
quence of this partial concession on the part of the 
Court of Rome, that Vasquez, general of the Angus- 
tins had recalled the prohibition which he had 
issued four years before, to quote or name Thomas in 
any disputes which might arise in future: "the time," 
said lie, "is gone by, in which there is any ground for 
dreading the bugbear accusation of being tinctured 
with that chimerical heresy, denominated Jansenism." 
The necessity, however, of accompanying Augustin 
with the explanations of Thomas, was decreed by a 
majority of the assembly ; and a commission named to 
regulate the method of instruction, and to point out the 
authors who had been most successful in expounding 
the doctrines of that writer. It is not a little remark- 
able that a work was proposed, in which the adver- 
saries of the opposition proved that the writer had in- 
eulcated the seditious maxims of Pope Gregory VII., 
by applying to sovereign princes the epithets of "ser- 

of the Pope ;" by decrying the authority of gen- 
eral councils, and converting the Roman PontifTmto 
an absolute despot. The Archbishop of Florence de- 
nominated these grave errors " trifling blemishes," an 
expression on which Ricci commented Avith much 
warmth and severity." 

The measures recommended by Leopold in his 
eighth article for preventing any persons from receiv- 
ing ordination, except those who had been properly 
instruetedj whose morals were unexceptionable, and 
whose vocation could not be called in question, as well 
as for preventing a greater number from being ordain- 
ed than was absolutely required for the service of the 
< !hurch, gat* the opposition some reason to fear that 

bed to diminish the number of the clergy. They 
accordingly employed their utmostefforts to prove that 
Tuscany instead of having too many priests, or any 

r ere useless, rather stood in need of some addi- 
tion to its present number; and urged thai opinion with 
such determined obstinacy, that il became necessary to 



IS'J SECRETS OF 

allow each bishop to regulate his diocess in that matter 
as he might deem most proper. The consequence was, 
that while all agreed to the truth of the principle that 
no useless priests should be ordained, each reserved to 
himself the right of ordaining as many as he chose. 
The clergy denominated Eugenian, belonging to the 
cathedral of Florence, who were made priests for no 
other reason than the services which they had rendered 
to that church, were exempted from all reform. From 
thirty-three clerks who composed it at its commence- 
ment, that body had increased to one hundred and fifty. 
The grand argument employed throughout the whole 
of this discussion was, that bishops ought not to tie up 
their own hands. 

The same argument was made use of to combat the 
ninth point, concerning the necessity of fixing eighteen 
as the proper age for receiving the tonsure, and enter- 
ing into the clerical profession ; as weW as of ridding 
the churches and the service, of the children employed 
in the choir, who went through their duty with as little 
decency as fervor. The fear of seeing the numbers of 
the clergy diminished by the lopping off of any one of 
the shoots fromwhich it was increased, was so great, that 
it became necessary to leave this article also to the dis- 
cretion of the bishops. 

Testimony was given by Longinelli, who was di- 
rector, during eleven years, in regard to the Eugenian 
clergy of Florence, the most numerous collegiate body 
perhaps in the whole of Europe. Speaking of their 
disorderly habits, he says, " At the time that I resided 
in that city, I used my best endeavors to eradicate, at 
least, the most apparent eauses and occasions of the 
irregularities which were committed ; such, for exam- 
ple, as the nocturnal service; but I dare not natter my- 
self that I succeeded in extirpating the whole. The 
admixture of so many little boys of very tender years, 
opens so many sources of disorder, that the utmost 
vigilance of the most attentive master is incapable of 
detecting them. The children who enter into the society 
of these young clerks, find these disorders in full ope- 



FEMALE CON \J: 131 

ration, and in a short time they also become infected 
with the contagion." Longinelli reckons four hundred 
persons in orders, at Florence alone. 

The tenth, the eleventh, and the twelfth articles, fur- 
nished but little food for dispute. The opponents of 
the measures promised to conform themselves to them 
as far as possible ; and the other bishops declared that 
they would regulate their conduct by the expressions 
of Leopold, in the same way as with the two preceding 
articles. 

The thirteenth article presents nothing remarkable, 
except the unanimous adoption, after some little debate, 
of the principle put forth by the Grand Duke, "that 
the right of patronage in the case of churches, cannot 
justify any one in nominating a pastor who is disagree- 
able to the congregation ; and that due deference must 
be paid in every case, to the right which the people 
have to good spiritual directors and solid instruction." 

The fourteenth article gave rise to a very interesting 
and very n nil Milled discussion on the practice of asking 
charity for saying masses ; a means employed by an 
avaricious "priesthood for retaining the people inigno- 
rance, <ui<l inducing them to believe that they thereby 
purchase the holy sacrifice and its spiritual effects. 
The practice had been permitted when the clergy were 
poor, and was consequently obliged to procure their 
support from the charity of the people ; but since they 
have possessed in abundance what is necessary for 
their maintenance, it only served to increase the num- 
bers of the useless clergy, who looked upon their pro- 
fession merely us a trade and means of subsistence. 
The opposition, from an opinion that the Church had 
not enough of property to support all its ministers, 
without reflecting whether there was not a superfluous 
number, caused a resolution to be adopted, that the 
bishops should each of them regulate that matter ac- 
cording to the necessities of their dioccsses. 

The fifteenth article was treated in the same manner. 
The opposition party agreed astothe incompatibility 
of more th.ui oin' bi'iirJiix- requiring personal residem <•, 



1S2 



SECRETS OF 



being conferred on one clergyman ; but they would 
not consent to the cession of several simple benefices, 
until their joint incomes should amount to sixty crowns, 
as the Grand Duke proposed, for the support of a chap- 
lain or curate. They saw also in tins proposal the 
much dreaded diminution of the numbers of the clergy, 
and even openly avowed their fears, saying, that out 
of five small benefices given to five ecclesiastics, there 
was always a certainty of finding one really good 
priest— a circumstance which could not so certainly 
have been relied on, if they had all been united in one. 
This reasoning was easily refuted by their adversaries, 
who insisted on obedience being yielded to the com- 
mands of the Prince, by excluding from ecclesiastical 
orders all the lazy, and consequently useless priests, 
and by ordaining those only who deserved to be ap- 

P °in regard to the seventeenth article, the opposition 
resisted^the declaration, that the person promoted to 
the enjoyment of a benefice in a diocess should m all 
cases 'have been ordained within it; but it allowed, 
nevertheless, that it would be much better that such 
were the case. . , , 

The twentieth and twenty-first articles furnished 
matter for a discussion, in regard to those who were 
merely priests, not attached to any particular Church, 
and were only obliged to say mass, and to recite the 
breviary. The opposition party agreed to the propriety 
of doing away with that abuse. 

Oratories and private chapels were attacked with 
much warmth in the course of the discussion, which 
took place on the twenty-second and twenty-third arti- 
cles The bishops of the opposition party would not 
hear of their being abolished : they consented, how- 
ever, to join in prohibiting the celebration of divine 
service in them on Sundays and festival days except 
by permission of the ordinary. The three bishops, 
and also the Bishop of Soana, demanded their entire 
suppression ; particularly on the ground of the in- 
justice of always granting the privilege to wealth 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 133 

and rank, which possess no merit in the eyes of the 
Almighty. 

The twenty-fifth, and following articles, in regard to 
the decency of conduct required from priests, which 
necessarily prohibits them from hunting, frequenting 
the theatres, &c. ; the dignity of the service of the 
Church, without either expense or shows; the cere- 
monies, fetes, &c. ; were entrusted, as regards their 
execution, to the prudence of the bishops, according to 
the particular circumstances of their diocesses. 

The affair of the Bishop of Chiusi and Pienza was 
resumed. Notwithstanding the explicit orders of the 
Grand Duke, and the formal request of the prelate him- 
self, the opposition party, consisting of his colleagues, 
peremptorily refused to examine the pastoral address 
in question, as well as the briefs of the Pope, through 
dread of offending the latter by re-judging not only 
what he had condemned, but also the sentence of con- 
demnation itself. At last, they came to a resolution, 
in which the Bishops of Pistoia and Colle, with those 
of Sepolchro and Arezzo joined, that each should give 
in Ins opinion in writing, and transmit it immediately 
to the Grand Duke, with a proviso, that, their opinions 
should be communicated to the Bishop of Chiusi — an 
injunction which Leopold faithfully observed. 

The discussion on the twenty- eighth article brought 
under the attention of the bishops the small curtains, 
veils, or mantles, which it had been the practice to 
place before particular images. All the arguments of 
the bishops, theologians, and canonists, who spoke in 
favor of the proposal of the Grand Duke, however 
striking and well-founded, could only prevail on the 
opposition party to agree on the unveiling of the 
images which were held in the smallest estimation. 
According to their opinion, the ancient images might 
remain veiled, without producing the least incon- 
venience ; provided always that the bishops took care 
to instruct their flocks not to attach any material or 
.superstitious idea to that mark of respect. 

The twenty-ninth article brought under their review 
12 



134 SECRETS OF 

the anniversary masses for the repose of the dead, 
which had increased beyond all bounds ; the exorbi- 
tant number of masses generally; the gross indecency 
of saying several masses at the same time in the same 
church; the hurry with which masses are said by 
those who celebrate them, who are driven to this inde- 
cent conduct, in order to make room for others ; the 
quarrels which take place on that subject in the sa- 
cristies ; the high or low rate charged for saying 
masses, according to the greater or lesser number of 
the candidates ; the application of some masses to a 
particular person, either living or dead, according to 
the intention of the celebrator, or his constituent ; the 
privileges attached to particular altars, days, and 
priests, &c. The Archbishop of Florence was the 
most obstinate in denying the existence of such abuses, 
and in wishing to preserve all these matters as they 
were. All the other prelates allowed that the abuses 
existed ; but would not consent to bind themselves to 
do any thing more than merely to instruct their flocks 
to do away with the existing errors, as far as had been 
required by the Council of Trent. 

In the course of this discussion, there occur several 
very pointed remarks on the personal and local privi- 
leges of the clergy; on the Gregorian altars, to which, 
it was pretended, the power of rescuing a soul from 
purgatory at will, was attached, &c. 

"An error so very gross as that of the privileged 
altars, is connected with a great number of others in 
regard to indulgences. The condescension shown by 
the Church in granting absolutions, is in reality only 
a diminution of a part of the punishments pointed out 
by the canons of the Church : a diminution which, 
during the first ages, was only granted on account of 
extraordinary fervor in the penitent, or from a consi- 
deration of the impossibility of his undergoing the 
whole of the punishment which had been imposed on 
him. That favor now passes for a complete remission 
of sins ; while the absurd and false opinion every- 
where prevails, that whoever has departed this life in 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 135 

possession of a plenary indulgence, has no sin to ex- 
piate, and is received immediately into the regions of 
eternal glory ! Under the impression of these and 
other equally ridiculous and exorbitant ideas of the 
power of the Pope, both in this and the other world, 
people have not hesitated to declare that the souls of 
the dead were equally capable of receiving the benefit 
of indulgences^ 

The fundamental principles of religion are not 
known or recognised, and they either will not or 
dare not investigate them. They do not even per- 
ceive, that the excessive number of privileges of which 
they boast, are a sufficient proof of their being ill 
founded. 

" If it were true, as is stated by some persons, that 
a soul was delivered from purgatory each time that a 
privileged mass, whether local or personal, was said, 
purgatory ought not only to be always empty, but to 
have a very large sum at its debit, in behalf of the 
souls who have not yet made their appearance there. 
In every parish church, by an indulgence of Clement 
XIII., the grand altar is privileged. There is always 
one of the same kind in every church of the regular 
monks, possessed of seven altars ; and in every other 
the privilege exists, at least for some particular day in 
the week. The number of priests possessing the pri- 
vilege personally is very great. On a moderate calcu- 
lation, the privileged masses which are said everyday 
in the city and diocess of Florence alone, amount to 
several hundreds, and consequently exceed, to a consi- 
derable degree, the number of persons who die in the 
course of the day. The same may be said to be the 
ease proportionally in all Catholic countries/' 

The thirty-seventh article gave rise to the display of 
much sound argument and erudition, in support of, 
and of much obstinacy, bad faith, and ignorance, in 
opposition to the desire which the Grand Duke had 
expressed "f prohibiting more thou one mass from 
being said at the same time, and of permitting only 
one altar m the same church. The opposition party 



136 SECRETS OF 

would only promise to abolish those altars which were 
useless, or indecorously situated. 

On the fortieth article, the dispute in regard to the 
jurisdiction of the curates was renewed. The oppo- 
sition party would not consent to their possessing any, 
and maintained that they were, and ought to be, en- 
tirely dependent on the bishops. 

The theologians and canonists delivered their opin- 
ions in regard to the affair of the Bishop of Chiusi and 
Pienza. All of them agreed in praise of his pastoral 
address, which they declared to be faultless, and in 
censuring the replies of the Pope, as well as the ca- 
lumnies, and vague and undefined accusations which 
were preferred against the whole of the episcopal body, 
the Tuscan Government, &c. 

Ricci took up the defence of the Bishop of Chiusi 
with much warmth, insisted on the bishops coming to 
a determination on the matter as soon and as clearly 
as possible, and on demanding from the See of Rome 
ample reparation for the injury ; maintaining that if 
its error was once pointed out, the Court of Rome 
could not fail to yield to their remonstrances. The 
boldness of Ricci is so much the more remarkable, as 
he had just received intelligence of an insurrection 
which had been excited at Prato, in honor of the Gir- 
dle of the Holy Virgin. 

The fifty-fourth article gave rise to a discussion in 
regard to the books prohibited at Rome, among which 
were found, some of those which the Grand Duke pro- 
posed to form part of the curate's library. The oppo- 
sition party rejected the whole, after having declared, 
that they did not thereby pretend to condemn either the 
authors or their writings. The argument by which it 
attempted to justify their conduct in that respect was, 
that it was much better to give the priests those works 
only which were exempt from all suspicion, stain, or 
censure. The three prelates who were of a contrary 
opinion, accepted the article proposed by Leopold with- 
out the smallest hesitation or modification. 

Among other books which were pointed out, were 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 137 

the writings of Quesnel, Le Tournenx, &e., to which 
Ricci added those of Nicole, " The Provincial Letters," 
Godeau, Duguet, &c. 

The fifty-sixth article was more favorably received. 
The bishops agreed generally in the necessity of cur- 
tailing the privileges of the regular orders, so as to re- 
duce them to the situation of mere coadjutors of the 
curates, and to render the possession of their properties 
dependent on their making themselves useful in their 
parishes, instead of injuring the service of the churches, 
and attracting the people to themselves solely for their 
own advantage, as had hitherto been the case. 

The fiftieth article required the convents to be inde- 
pendent of their provincials and generals. That inde- 
pendence appeared to the greater part of the opposition 
to have been sufficiently secured by the laws which 
already existed in full operation in the Grand Duchy. 
The bishops of Pistoia and Colle declared that they 
preferred, according to Leopold's proposal, that each 
convent should form a separate community, subject 
only to the control of the bishop of the dioccss in which 
it was situated. 

The Grand Duke added four new questions to his 
fifty-seven articles, which furnished matter for some 
interesting discussions. One of those related to the 
baptisteries, which the opposition party would not con- 
sent to grant to all parishes, principally at the instiga- 
tion of the two archbishops of Florence and Pisa; an- 
other, to the abolition of the mendicity of the religious 
orders. The opponents of these measures did not deny 
the inconveniences resulting from the license which 
these orders had to beg; but they exaggerated the im- 
possibility, on the other hand, of providing in a proper 
manner for the support of the mendicant orders. 

The important subject of marriage presented one pe- 
culiar feature. The opposition party would not agree 
to the nullity, in a civil point of view, of mere promises, 
whether written or verbal, as the bishops' of Pistoia, 
Colle, Chiusi, and Soana would have wished them. 
They agreed, however, with those enlightened prelates, 
12* 



13 8 SECRETS OF 

in admitting that there was a distinct difference be- 
tween the contract and the sacrament, and even allow- 
ed that the sovereign possessed all authority in regard 
to the former. 

The commission which had been appointed to draw 
up a plan of ecclesiastical study which would render 
the doctrine of the Church both sound and uniform, at 
length delivered the fruits of their labors to the assem- 
bly." The disputes in regard to Augustin and Thomas, 
and to systems of theology containing propositions in- 
jurious to the rights of sovereign, princes, were in con- 
sequence renewed. 

The opposition party displayed their ill-will on the 
subject of useless oaths, which they would not consent 
to abolish, notwithstanding the powerful reasons urged 
in behalf of such a measure. 

This obstinacy brought on a discussion in regard to 
the oath of vassalage to the Pope taken by the bishops, 
which Tanzini denominates a feudal remnant of Hil- 
debrandine 'policy. 

The opposition party had neither the boldness to 
support, nor to forbid the taking of it in future ; but 
found the means of getting out of the dilemma, without 
compromising itself with the Court of Rome, by saying 
that they had notbing to suggest to the Grand Duke 
on that head. The bishops of Pistoia, Colle, Chiusi, 
and Soana implored the Prince to take the matter into 
serious consideration, and stated their conviction that 
a simple promise of canonical obedience was all that 
was required. 

The plan of a uniform course of study for the whole 
of Tuscany was considerably amended by the sugges- 
tions of the Bishops of Pistoia, Colle, and Chiusi : the 
opposition party would not, however, consent to the 
abolition of the scholastic method of instruction, which 
those prelates were anxious to extirpate as an invention 
of the dark ages, and to substitute for it the scriptures, 
tradition, and the fathers. Neither would they depart 
from the necessity of employing the writings of Tho- 
mas for the interpretation of those of Augustin. 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 139 

Several memorials from the synod of Pistoia to the 
Grand Duke were transmitted by the latter for exami- 
nation to the assembly. Notwithstanding- the opinion 
of the Prince, which on the whole was favorable to 
them, the assembly received them very coldly. Among 
other matters, they refused a request in one of them 
to refer all the fetes to the Sunday following the day of 
their occurrence, to abolish the necessity of abstaining 
from labor on these days, and on the evenings preceding 
fasts, with that of attending mass not only on these days, 
but also on the festival days which had been abolished, 
but which were still attended with that obligation. 

Another memorial contained the project of a general 
reform of the religious orders of every description, 
which Ricci was desirous of uniting under one single 
institute, namely, that of Benedict. In that case there 
would only have been one convent, always situated in 
the country, for each town, and containing, with the 
exception of one or two priests required for the admi- 
nistration of the sacraments, only lay monks. The 
opposition party would not, however, agree on any 
terms to the execution of that plan. 

The nineteenth and last session was held in June, 
1787. 

The Grand Duke gave orders that the acts of the 
assembly should remain open during eight days, for 
tin,' purpose of affording an opportunity of inserting re- 
plies to the articles already deposited. He gave audi- 
ence to the assembly in a body, and testified to them 
his vexation at the malignant spirit with which they 
had misrepresented his intentions, and the selfishness 
which had induced them to reject his proposals ; at the 
little harmony and concord which existed among 
tin- hishops, and at the spirit of prejudice and party 
which had actuated them, <fcc. 

The Prince afterwards prohibited in his states the 
"Journal of Rome," the " Projct de Bourg-Fontaine" 
and other periodical and defamatory publications, 
which, after being composed at Rome, were dissemi- 
nated throughout the whole of Tuscany, "for the pur- 



140 SECRETS OF 

pose of exciting sedition, and increasing the supersti- 
tion which gave birth to it." 

The writer terminates his volume with some very- 
appropriate and just reflections on the progress of know- 
ledge ; a progress which had taken place much against 
the wish of the assembly itself, which, although deter- 
mined to delay the intellectual revolution which was 
operating, as much as possible, could not prevent that 
body from coming up to that which had already taken 
place. Although there was a predominant party ini- 
mical to reform, many resolutions were passed, which, 
a century before, would have been considered as so 
many heresies. Without paying the least attention to 
the Court of Rome, the studies of the regular clergy 
were distinctly pointed out and determined ; them- 
selves subjected to the control of the ordinaries, and 
the principle of yielding obedience, and rendering 
themselves useful in the spiritual duty of the parishes, 
was formally recognised. A uniform system of eccle- 
siastical instruction, for which Augustin was chosen 
as the model, was established ; the reform of the mis- 
sals and breviaries was resolved on ; all taxes for ad- 
ministering spiritual aid were abolished ; and the lux- 
ury, dissipation, and gross irregularities of the clergy, 
were openly condemned. 

II. The second volume of the Collection of the Acts, 
is entitled " Ecclesiastical Points compiled and trans- 
mitted by his Royal Highness to all the Archbishops 
and Bishops of Tuscany, with the replies of those pre- 
lates :" Florence, 1787. 

The fifty-seven points proposed by the Prince relate 
to the necessity of holding diocesan synods ; to the 
right of the curates to sit and vote in them ; to the in- 
dispensable necessity of reforming the missals and 
breviaries ; to the abolition of useless oaths ; to the 
reclaiming of the authority of the bishops which had 
been usurped by the Court of Rome, especially the 
power of granting dispensations, and more particularly 
dispensations in matters relatingto marriage ; to the uni- 
formity of doctrine and study according to the writings 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 



of Augustin : to the prohibition to ordain priests to si- 
necures, to permit their receiving the tonsure and be- 
ing admitted to the rank of a clergyman before the age 
of eighteen, and to crowd the churches and altars with 
the children belonging to the choir, as had formerly- 
been the case : to the absolute necessity of ordaining 
none but priests worthy of being intrusted with the 
ministry ; to the abolition of begging for saying 
masses ; to the impropriety of one individual holding 
and doing the duty of several benefices ; to the neces- 
sity of attaching each incumbent to a particular church 
in the district of his benefice ; to the suppression of 
private oratories ; to prohibiting the priests from hunt- 
ing, frequenting inns, coffee-houses, theatres, gaming- 
houses, &c, trading, employing themselves in com- 
mercial speculations, &c. ; to a reduction of the ex- 
travagant luxury of the temples, and of the theatrical 
pomp of festivals and religious ceremonies ; to pro- 
hibiting the celebration of more than one mass in the 
same church ; to the examination of all relics, denomi- 
nated sacred, and the elimination of those which were 
false ; to the unveiling of covered images ; to the in- 
struction to be given to the people relative to the com- 
munion of saints, and to suffrage in behalf of the dead; 
to the duties of curates ; to exhorting the people in the 
language of the country on the Gospel for each day, 
and the explanation of the Latin prayers which are 
repeated ; to the books to be furnished by the Govern- 
ment to the curates ; to the submission of the regular 
monks and nuns to the curates and bishops ; and to 
the invalidity in Tuscany of orders, permissions, dis- 
pensations from Rome, unless accompanied by the 
Exequator from Government. 

The first answer is from the Archbishop of Florence, 
Martini, the chief of the opposition party in the national 
ecclesiastical assembly. That prelate principally corn- 
kits tlic proposal for correcting the missals and bre- 
viaries, the administration of the sacraments in the 
common language of the country; the validity of dis- 
pensations granted by the ordinaries, all innovations 



142 SECRETS OF. 

tending to diminish the solemnity and splendor of the 
external part of religious worship, or the number of 
priests, clerks, or festivals. 

The answer of Sciarelli, Bishop of Colle, and one 
of the three prelates who favored a thorough reform, 
follows next. He approves of all the proposals of the 
Grand Duke ; advises following the example of Ricci 
after his council, both as to the nature and the mode 
of the reform to be effected ; quotes, as one of the oaths 
which ought to be abolished, that which is taken to 
the See of Rome at the time of consecration ; considers 
ordinary bishops possessed of sufficient power, without 
having recourse to the Pope, to govern their diocess, to 
grant dispensations in all lawful cases, &c. ; shows a 
disposition to abolish all ceremonies, processions, fetes, 
&c, and to eject all images which might have been 
adjudged dangerous or useless ; adds several books to 
those which had been selected, to form the curates' 
library, and among others, the works of authors 
accused of Jansenism; and proposes the suppression 
of some of the very few convents existing in his 
diocess. 

Mancini, Bishop of Fiesole, and one of the most 
violent of the opposition party, follows next. Before 
giving his answers, he puts forth several general prin- 
ciples, in which he declares all reform dangerous and 
unlawful. " It would be highly culpable," says he, " to 
attempt to re-establish the ancient discipline of the 
Church, by virtue of which the diocesses had no dis- 
tinct boundary, the priests were not obliged to lead a 
life of celibacy, and lived from day to day on the offer- 
ings of their flocks, and the communion was adminis- 
tered in both kinds." 

He is also of opinion, that it would be excessively 
ridiculous to deny the right of the Pope to the univer- 
sal superintendence and control of the Church, since 
the Protestants themselves had confessed that he was 
the true basis of the stability of the Catholic religion. 
" The sole aim of those writers who attack the supre- 
macy of the Pope." says he, " is to sever every political 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 143 

and religious tie, and to destroy, in the first place, the 
authority of the Popes by the agency of crowned 
heads, and in the next, to overturn the thrones of 
sovereigns themselves, by means of the united power 
of the people." 

Mancini reduces almost to nothing the authority of 
the diocesan synod, deprives the curates of all right to 
vote, rejects the proposal for correcting the breviaries, 
and the use of the vulgar tongue in the liturgy ; will 
not hear of the bishops reclaiming any of their rights 
which might have devolved to the see of Rome ; de- 
fends all religious festivals, the pomp of the churches, 
and the splendor of the images ; rejects from the list of 
books which had been proposed, all those which were 
suspected of a leaning to Jansenism, and substitutes for 
them others, which he reckons better; and testifies great 
dread of intermeddling with the privileges and exemp- 
tions of the monks, &c. 

Ricci approves of every thing which had been pro- 
posed ; quotes the synod of Jansenists at Utrecht in 
1763, as a model for the Tuscan bishops in their 
diocesan synods, to which their curates ought to be 
admitted as judges ; and advises the adoption of the 
t caution " against the intrigues of the Court of 
Rome, which will make use of the monks, or the Nun- 
cio, to overturn the plans of those synods." He hopes 
that the bishops will not so far forget either their 
duties or theii rights, as to request authority from the 
Papal Court for granting dispensations, or to square 
their conduct, in condemning books, bythe Index of pro- 
hibited books published at Rome— an Index whose 
authority is not recognised in Tuscany. He requests 
the immediate assistance of Government in extirpating 
all abuses and superstitious practices, proposes several 
hooks, the greater part of them prohibited, to be given 
to the curates, & c. 

The answers of Franseschi, Archbishop of Pisa, are 
the mosl fanatical and intractable of the whole body. 
He carefully keeps out of view, or openly condemns, 
all measures tending to diminish in any way the rights 



144 SECRETS OF 

or pretentions, the privileges and prerogatives of the 
Court of Rome, and its usurpations of the rights of the 
bishops ; the encroachments of the latter on those of 
the curates ; the blind respect of the people towards 
religious prejudices ; the power and wealth of the 
clergy; the superstition of their flocks, &c. 

Borghesi, Archbishop of Siena, also shows himself a 
zealous opponent. Among other things, he utters ex- 
clamations of regret at the boldness which could have 
prompted any one to insert in the list of books for the 
curates, the writings of Q.uesnel, and pronounces a 
pompous eulogy on the Bull Uuigenitus, which had 
condemned him. 

Pannilini, Bishop of Chiusi and Pienza, joins frankly 
in the principles professed by the Government. He 
dissuades the Grand Duke from assembling his bishops, 
with whose opposition to his maxims, and attachment 
to prejudices of every description, he professes to be well 
acquainted ; and gives as his opinion, that they ought 
not to be permitted to hold diocesan synods, except with 
the assistance of two deputies from the Government, and 
on condition that they should adopt for their model, a 
synod which had already been approved, such, for ex- 
ample, as that of Pistoia. He distinguishes clearly, in 
the affair of marriage, the nuptial contract from the 
nuptial benediction. " In the quality of a civil con- 
tract it always remained under the control of the 
princes, and of the laws of the different countries ; and 
was only withdrawn from that control since the time 
when the Church added the nuptial benediction to the 
civil formalities required by Government." 

The Bishop of Chiusi, in deciding on the different 
points, always embraces the views of the Grand Duke, 
and sometimes even goes beyond them. 

The answers of Franci, Bishop of Grossetto, and 
one of the most unreasonable of the opposition party, 
are scarcely any thing else than an apology for all the 
abuses, all the superstitious practices, and all the usur- 
pations of the Court of Rome, and of the bishops. 
That prelate pretends that the suppression of the 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 145 

society for liberating souls from purgatory, and of the 
practice of begging for their support, had given rise to 
doubts in the minds of the people as to the very exist- 
ence of purgatory itself. 

Santo, Bishop of Soana, wholly devoted to the prin- 
ciples professed by the Augustinians or Jansenists, and 
by the canonists or politicians, approves and even 
extends Leopold's plans of reform, especially those for 
erecting in Tuscany an independent national church. 
He insists with much earnestness on the necessity of re- 
forming the "breviary, which is so full of fabulous and 
foolish stories;" and proposes the tenth synod of Charles 
Boromeus, and the synod of Jansenists at Utrecht in 
1763, as the best models for the diocesan synods of 
Tuscany. " The privileges of the Court of Rome," he 
denominates, are " constantly pernicious," and con- 
fesses that " the books proposed by the Grand Duke 
for the curates are undoubtedly possessed of merit, 
whatever the partisans of the Court of Rome may say 
to the contrary ;" but requests some little indulgence 
for his own diocess, which fell in with the jurisdiction 
of the Pope, was consequently infested with great pre- 
judice, and in which "a book prohibited by the Court 
of Rome was held in the utmost abomination." 

The Bishop of Arezzo, Marani, opposes the schemes 
of Leopold, but as it seems through policy and timid- 
ity, as he gives us to understand in the general consid- 
erations, with which he has prefaced his answers. 
Sudden and unexpected reforms would, in his opinion, 
disturb the consciences of the simple ; and perhaps by 
that means the tranquillity of the state. 

Alexander Ciribi, Bishop of Cortona, acknowledges 
(he necessity of several reforms, and agrees to the 
execution of some of them. 

The most complete and decided opposition was ex- 
pressed in tlic answers of Pecci, Bishop of Montaleino. 
ineral objection to all the proposed reforms is, 
•• thai the doctrines which circulate under the garb of 
true piety are the most pernicious, because they tt nd 
L3 



146 SECRETS OF 

to overthrow, by little and little, the Christian religion 
itself." 

Franzesi, Bishop of Montepulciano, was the most 
obstinate defender of the Court of Rome, and the most 
zealous enemy of all change or innovation in the shape 
of reform. Some idea may be formed of this, from 
a letter which he addressed to the Grand Duke, at the 
time of sending his answers to the fifty-seven ecclesi- 
astical points. 

In that letter he describes Leopold as surrounded 
with a set of bishops who had shamelessly intro- 
duced the most pernicious projects, and who scrupled 
not to make a tool of the Prince for inflicting on reli- 
gion the most fatal blows, with the view of entirely 
overturning it. "They have almost succeeded in car- 
rying their designs into effect in Tuscany," says he, 
" where they have introduced heresy and schism, 
which are slowly destroying some diocesses, and 
where they support that party which, by and by, will 
separate the Grand Duchy from the Church of Rome. 

" They have already succeeded in making the Tus- 
can church take several steps towards complete inde- 
pendence. We see monks and nuns reduced to a 
regular state by the sole authority of bishops, who 
really are apostates, perjurers to God, and rebels to the 
Church." 

He next proceeds to make several violent attacks on 
the changes introduced into the calendars of different 
diocesses, on all licenses, and especially on matrimonial 
dispensations granted by those only holding the rank 
and authority of bishop. " What is the consequence of 
these things? In the dominions of your Royal Highness 
there are apostates and rebels to God, persons who keep 
concubines, and who live in that state of damnation, 
without the smallest remorse." 

He next attacks what he calls the "schismatic Synod 
of Utrecht, which one party, says he, praised in the 
highest degree, and endeavored to disseminate copies 
of its acts among the people. Speaking of the "Eccle- 
siastical Annals of Florence," — " I protest before God, 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 147 

that they are sufficient to inspire any true Catholic with 
horror, and that they are a scandal to the whole 
Church." 

He complains in the bitterest terms of the suppres- 
sion of the convents. " It is disgusting, to hear ene- 
mies exclaiming every where with all their might, that 
the monastic orders are useless." 

He endeavors to prove that the Jansenism of Tus- 
cany, which he terms the growing heresy, was making 
every imaginable effort to establish "natural religion, 
which, to say the truth," adds he, " is only a brutal 
deism." This is the end aimed at by all these new 
deists, who have, by deceiving them, contrived to glide 
in among the Catholics : their sole aim is, to degrade 
the church of Tuscany to a level with the deism of 
Holland, of England, and a great part of Germany." 

The Bishop of Montepulciano, in his answers to 
the fifty-seven points, instead of consenting to the 
correction of the breviary and Romish missals, which, 
in his opinion, have no occasion to be altered, implores 
the Grand Duke to give orders for re-establishing them 
in their ancient form in all the diocesses in which, to 
the great scandal of true believers, they had attempted 
to reform them. He represents the doctrine of Augus- 
tin as extremely dangerous, since "Luther, Calvin, and 
Jansenius, with all his adherents, have erroneously pre- 
tended that their false doctrines were founded on the 
writings of that father of the Church." These inno- 
vators, says he, easily convert his doctrines to the 
worst purposes, " especially those relating to grace and 
free-will, whenever they wish to deprive man of that 
same free-will, in order to set down every thing to the 
account of grace." He proscribes even the celebrated 
work of Muratori, " Devotion Regulated," that writer 
having, in his opinion, shown himself, in that work, 
" equally deficient in talent and in genius." 

It may easily be conceived, that, after condemning 
Muratori, he does not hesitate to threaten with dam- 
nation "all the rash projectors and enemies of the 
Catholic religion, who have had the effrontery to pro- 



148 SECRETS OF 

pose the reading of books prohibited by the Court of 
Rome." The " Moral Reflections of Quesnel," — " in 
which," says he, "the Church, by a decided and un- 
alterable sentence, has borne testimony to a hundred 
and one heresies, errors, and dangerous opinions," &c. ; 
the Treatises of Tamburini, " a declared enemy of the 
Holy See ;" and the " Ecclesiastical History of Racine," 
which fills the mind with false and mistaken prejudices 
against the Court of Rome, (fee. — he terms, the most 
venomous books. 

III. The opposition which Leopold encountered 
from the majority of the higher order of the clergy, 
at the time of the ecclesiastical assembly of Florence, 
ought to be set down to the account of corruption and 
knavery. 

The Prince, on his accession to the throne, had 
adopted every possible means for diffusing information 
and knowledge among his subjects, and particularly 
among those who are entrusted with the guidance and 
instruction of others. 

In 1770, he ordered to be begun the publication of a 
work, entitled " Collection of Writings relative to the 
dependence of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction on Civil au- 
thority." The work contained all the reports, memoirs, 
and consultations, composed in different Catholic coun- 
tries by order of their governments, with the view of 
turning the lights of reason and philosophy to the 
maxims and conduct of the clergy, and of setting 
bounds to the insatiable cupidity, and inextinguish- 
able thirst after power, which the Court of Rome had 
always manifested, and which had proved an invin- 
cible obstacle to the political, moral, and religious 
improvement, both of the people and of their sove- 
reigns. 

We quote from this collection what appears to be 
most in unison with the principles of Ricci, of Leopold 
himself, and of the enlightened men of his age, who 
were desirous of seeing, in the homage rendered to the 
Almighty, a guarantee for the practice of all the social 
virtues, — and in the ministers of religion, the comfort- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 149 

ers of man, the messengers of peace, the friends of good 
order and humanity. 

IV. In the defence of Cecile Fargo, who had been 
accused of sorcery, pronounced at Naples by the 
Counsellor Joseph Raffaele, March, 1770, we read as 
follows : — ■ 

" Christians yielded the most complete obedience to 
the civil authority, whilst they were weak. As soon, 
however, as they felt themselves less dependent on its 
protection ; when they became more numerous, and 
more wealthy, they still professed fidelity to the civil 
authority, and allowed that it had a right to exact it 
from them ; but they used this profession of humility 
and obedience, merely for the purpose of increasing 
those immunities and privileges which inconsiderate 
princes were so imprudent as to offer to them, and 
which ended in releasing them from the performance 
of every duty towards society, or its members. 

" When the world became Christian, the people 
ceased to enjoy any prerogatives, or privileges, and 
became what the mass of the population of heathen 
countries had formerly been, and what the mass of the 
people in most countries still is — the useful and ener- 
getic, but despised and oppressed portion of society. 
The only chosen and privileged class, the only one 
that enjoyed the pleasures and comforts of life, was 
the clergy, which dictated its own privileges, but re- 
cognised the performance of no duties. 

" The transference of the seat of empire to Constan- 
tinople was the origin of the power of the western 
clergy, and of the Bishop of Rome, the most powerful 
prelate in the Latin Church. The heresy of the Icono- 
clasts was adroitly employed by him to render himself 
entirely independent of the Greek government. 

" The obligations contracted towards the Court of 
Rome by the Carlovingian race, which had been es- 
tablished, or rather legitimated in the possession of the 
throne of France by the Bishop of Rome, who had not 
as yet the hardihood to call himself its sovereign, with 
the gratitude evinced by the same race in return for 
13* 



150 SECRETS OF 

the Empire of the West, which they soon after received 
at his hands, rendered the Popes formidable, first to the 
Lombards, who were masters of Italy, and next to the 
Emperors of the West themselves. 

" Gregory XI. mounted the Papal throne, and re- 
duced into a regular system, the whole of that hitherto 
unshapely mass of privileges and exemptions, which 
had been slowly constructed, partly on the ignorance 
and superstition of the people, and partly on the weak- 
ness and cowardice of the different governments. In- 
stead of considering, or allowing others to consider, 
those prerogatives and privileges as derived from the 
good-will of those emperors who had been recognised 
as their sovereigns, the Popes boldly laid claim to them 
as original and incontestable rights ; became, by divine 
right, what it was now impossible to prevent them from 
becoming ; and even carried their unfounded and ridi- 
culous pretensions so far as to grasp at absolute uni- 
versal empire. The two Councils of Lateran sanctioned 
this gigantic system, by the adherence, believed to be 
infallible, of deputies from the whole Church, who, 
they said, had been assembled in the name and by the 
authority of the Holy Spirit. From that period, who- 
ever ventured to attack either the persons or the pro- 
perty of the clergy, was threatened with the spiritual 
thunder of the Church, and its awful consequences, 
both in this world and the next. The energies and 
the intelligence of mankind were thus completely para- 
lyzed, and society, in the very period of its infancy, fell 
into the weakness and decrepitude of age/' 

"The clergy, now constituting an immense army 
without either restraint or moderation, formed in every 
kingdom a kind of separate state, which did not recog- 
nise the control of the sovereign, and was consequently 
superior to him. At first, it only yielded obedience to 
its immediate chiefs, the bishops and archbishops; but 
by their means connected itself in a very short time 
with the supreme head of all, the Bishop of Rome ; 
and a theocracy, in consequence, gave law to the whole 
Christian world." 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 151 

V. The twenty-fourth number, in which Bianchi 
demonstrates that the clergy are subject to the civil 
power, and that they ought to bear a part in contribut- 
ing to the expenses of the Government, proves, that 
the privileges granted to the clergy, through the weak- 
ness of sovereigns, were in a short time converted 
into canons, which contained what it denominated its 
rights. By degrees, new canons were enacted for the 
extension of the old, and new rights created by. the 
priests themselves, in aid of those which they owed to 
the indulgence or concessions of Government. In this 
manner was the enormous edifice of sacerdotal power 
constructed ; a power supported by civil and religious 
laws, composed of the real and personal immunities of 
the clergy, and declared by it to be sacred and inviola- 
ble. To attempt the least encroachment upon it was 
high treason — a crime at all times dreadful, but more 
especially so, when the clergy are invested with the 
supreme authority, and are considered by the ignorant 
and superstitious multitude as the avengers of that God 
whose will they profess to declare. 

VI. It was, however, more especially the Bull In 
ccena Domini, as containing a sketch of all the pre- 
tended rights of the Pope, which irritated the Catholic 
governments of that period ; particularly after the scan- 
dalous affair of the Duke of Parma, in which the Pope 
had the impudence to bring forward that Bull in sup- 
port of his insolent proceedings. The Senate of Venice 
had a report of the whole drawn up for their inform- 
ation, March, 1769. 

In that document it is proved to demonstration, by 
a minute and careful examination of each article of the 
anti-social Bull In ccena Domini, that in many of its 
points it is destructive of all civil authority, and that 
it wounds it deeply in the others ; that if it were scru- 
pulously observed by the clergy and their flocks, all 
government would be at an end, and the Pope would 
be sole master both of the actions and consciences, the 
persons and the property, of every people, who, in conse- 



152 SECRETS OF 

quence, would be alike destitute of princes and magis- 
trates, of councils and bishops. 

The Republic of Venice never consented to receive 
the Bull In coena, and proscribed it frequently, not- 
withstanding the remonstrances of the Pontifical Nun- 
cios ; rejecting on all occasions the interference of the 
confessors employed by the Court of Rome to relieve 
its subjects from the censures incurred by contravening 
the provisions of the Bull, and preventing them from 
executing their functions. 

The Court of Rome, which never blushed to employ 
any means which had been useful to them in former 
times, and might still be so in future — Rome, to this 
very day, delegates authority for granting absolution 
in those cases which it has reserved in the Bull In 
coena Domini; and there are priests, subjects of anti- 
Catholic governments, who are not only furnished with 
that authority, but who also exercise it without hesita- 
tion. 

VII. The Republic of Venice ordered an account 
to be drawn up, by an ecclesiastical commission of its 
own appointment, of the amount of money which was 
annually extracted from its subjects by the pernicious 
organization of the clergy. The Court of Rome still 
continues to levy the same contribution as it formerly 
did on the inhabitants of Catholic countries. 

The annual revenue of the ecclesiastical benefices 
held by the subjects of the republic, and not situated 
within its territories, amount to 260,000 francs. 

The ecclesiastical pensions payable to foreigners, to 
75,000 francs. 

Twenty-eight bulls, for canonical induction to patri- 
archal, episcopal, and archiepiscopal sees, obtained in 
the course of ten years, had cost nearly 5,000,000 
francs ; without reckoning in that enormous sum, the 
very great expense incurred by those who had been 
nominated, in making a journey to Rome for the pur- 
pose of being consecrated. 

During the same ten years, 50,000 francs had been 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 153 

paid for forty-two Bulls for abbeys, priories, and pro- 
vostships. 

One hundred and ten Bulls for pensions, which had 
been granted, amounted to 78,800 francs. 

Two hundred and twenty-five Bulls for parish 
churches, had been worth to the Pope 130,000 francs, 
without reckoning what the curates must have paid 
privately to the cardinals, if they had been maintained 
during the months reserved for these princes of the 
Church. 

Twenty-seven Bulls for canonships, collegiate church- 
es, &c. cost more than 80,000 francs. 

Forty-five Bulls for collations to one hundred and 
fifty simple benefices, amounted to 12,600 francs. 

During the year 1768, there arrived from Rome 1130 
rescripts, indulgences, privileges to altars, dispensations 
relative to the granting of holy orders, permissions to 
maintain private chapels, displomas conferring the title 
of count, &c. ; the whole for the sum of 44,500 francs. 

Rome granted, during the same year, 589 dispens- 
ations for marriages, which brought an enormous and 
unknown sum into its treasury. All that it was pos- 
sible to discover as to its amount, was, that those dis- 
pensations which were requested and obtained without 
any good reason being alleged, cost ten times, and even 
twenty times, more than those for which any real cause 
was assigned. The report reckons all these dispens- 
ations, on an average of the highest and lowest rates, 
at a sum of 1,050,000 francs. 

The report also states, that the conduct of the Court 
of Rome, in this respect, is contrary to the recommend- 
ations of the Council of Trent, which in the fifth chap- 
ter of its twenty-fourth Session on reform, gives its 
advice to grant dispensations of marriage as seldom as 
possible, and orders them to be issued, in all cases, free 
of expense. The same Council forbids granting them 
in the second degree, unless for reasons of a grave and 
public nature, and in favor of princes and kings only, 
whose marriage may affect the interests of religion or 
the state. The Court of Rome, without paying the 



154 SECRETS OF 

slightest regard to that prohibition, granted in the 
course of a single year, twenty-four dispensations to 
citizens of the Republic, whose only claims to the in- 
dulgence of the Papal Court were the large sums of 
money which they were willing to place at its disposal. 

VIII. " At first," says another memoir, addressed to 
the Venetian Senate, " the Popes graciously entreated 
the bishops, to confer some ecclesiastical benefice on 
the poor priests, whom they recommended to their 
protection ; but in a short time these entreaties were 
changed into exhortations, the exhortations into admo- 
nitions, the admonitions into orders, threats, excommu- 
nications, pecuniary fines, and finally, into an absolute 
despotism, which overthrew the whole system on which 
benefices had originally been granted. By these means 
not only were mandates, expectations, anticipations, 
and all the other stratagems devised by the Court of 
Rome for its own advantage and the ruin of others, 
introduced ; but a large field was opened for keeping 
alive every abuse by which the Church was disfigured, 
and the patrimony of the poor exhausted, and which 
have given rise to so many grounds of difference in the 
last general councils. The regulations of the Roman 
chancery, the plurality of benefices, translations from 
one living to another, resignations in favor of particu- 
lar individuals, assistantships, with a clause for future 
succession, commendams, resignations in court, first 
fruits, dispensations from possessing the qualifications 
required by the canons, and a great number of other 
irregularities and abuses deplored by the pious, and 
condemned by the decrees of the Church, are still in 
existence, and still practised in the same way as they 
formerly were. 

" So far all this only relates to the interests of reli- 
gion. But is the civil authority less injured by this 
overthrow of principle and good order ? Ought it to 
sit in patience and allow a foreign prince to distribute 
its revenues arid its wealth, to levy contributions, and 
to attach to him by an oath of fidelity those with whose 
government it is intrusted, without his having any 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 155 

title to allege in favor of such authority, or being able 
to exhibit the least claim for such sovereign dominion?" 

IX. The abuses caused by the excessive number of 
masses, were attacked in a vigorous and unanswerable 
manner, in a memoir on that subject. 

Perpetual foundations for saying masses, and lega 
cies destined for their support, were unknown in any 
part of the Church during several centuries, and still 
are so in the East, where the maxims and customs 
prevalent in primitive ages, have been more strictly 
maintained. Devout persons occasionally bequeathed 
gifts to the Church for the remission of their sins, but 
without imposing any particular condition or obliga- 
tion. 

The parish mass was, for a long time, the only one 
which was celebrated ; and Christians were bound by 
the canons of the Church to assist at it. Until the 
sixth century, bread and wine, intended to relieve the 
most urgent wants of the Church and of the poor, 
were the only offerings presented to the priest who 
celebrated mass. In the ninth century private masses 
began, and they came into great vogue, principally by 
means of the monks. The secular clergy showed 
themselves eager to take advantage of them, and great 
murmuring and dissatisfaction were occasioned by 
such an unheard-of innovation on the established 
practice of the Church. These murmurs redoubled, 
when the private masses became solitary, that is, 
when they were celebrated by a single priest, without 
the presence or assistance of any one. 

The great increase in numbers of the clergy gave 
rise to such an increase in the number of masses, that 
it at last became necessary to say several at the same 
time in the same church. The parish masses were in 
consequence given up, and the people were obliged to 
accustom themselves to join bodily and mentally in the 
masses which were said by the priests for a particular 
purpose, either expressed or understood. 

Hence arose the practice of asking charity in behalf 
of masses, and next that of paying a salary to the 



156 SECRETS OF 

celebrator, or the jyrice of the sacrifice, as they impu- 
dently termed it. Popes Eugenius II. and Leo IV. 
made the most vigorous exertions to prevent this 
strange abuse, which did not come into general practice 
till after the twelfth century. 

" To complete our shame and extreme wretchedness, 
the sacrifice of the mass has been profaned to such a 
degree both by the regular and secular clergy, that 
they have had the impudence to establish fixed rates 
for saying masses, like so many mechanics and mer- 
cenaries ; rates which vary according to the fatigue 
and quantity of time required for celebrating them. 
The practice came so much into vogue, that nothing 
was so common as to augment the price for masses 
which were chanted, and for those celebrated at a 
privileged altar. The priest turned every circum- 
stance to account— the devotion of the people towards 
a particular saint, a relic, an image reported to be 
miraculous," &c. 

This devotion, powerfully stimulated by the innu- 
merable contrivances which the avarice of the monks 
suggested, caused a great influx of masses into their 
convents. They had consigned to them, in the course 
of a very short time, more than they could celebrate ; 
but being reluctant either to put a check upon the 
credulity of the public, or to restore what had only 
been given them upon conditions with which they 
were unable to comply, they addressed themselves to 
the Court of Rome, which agreed to divide with them 
what they had no title to, and allowed them to retain 
the remainder with a clear conscience. " The monks 
were thus released from all obligation to repair the 
evils, of whatever magnitude, which they had origi- 
nated, by celebrating one or more masses, which the 
common people ironically termed the great mass ; or, 
by paying a money tax for the support of Peter's at 
Rome, which the agents of that court denominated the 
Composition tax." 

The people requested to be informed if a single mass 
was equivalent to many? and in case of its being so, 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 157 

why the priests burthen themselves with so many at 
the same time, and collected the price of celebrating 
them? If on the other hand one is not as good as 
several, they requested to know why these priests did 
not restore the money which they had received on 
promises which they would not keep 1 

After this question, to which it would be very diffi- 
cult to reply in a satisfactory manner, the memorialist 
enters into various details in regard to the different 
indulgences granted by the See of Rome at different 
periods, to the religious orders which had been charged 
with the celebration of more masses than they could 
perform, and from which they desired to be released. 
In the seventeen century these indulgences came into 
fashion ; in the eighteenth they were multiplied 
beyond all precedent, by the prodigality of Bene- 
dict XIV. 

In the church of the Dominicans of the order of 
John and Paul at Venice, there were found in arrear 
in 1743, 16,400 masses ; and the following year, in the 
church of Lady dell-Orto, the duty of which was per- 
formed by Cistercian monks, no fewer than 14,300. 

X. In a memorial presented to the Junto of the Ten 
Sages, commissioned ad 'pais causas, June, 1767, we 
read that, until the time of Gregory VII., the very few 
oaths which had been taken to the Bishop of Rome by 
the other bishops, were only simple promises of canoni- 
cal deference. Hildebrand exacted with rigor as 
duties of fidelity, what his predecessors had very rarely 
solicited as pledges of union. He changed the formula 
of the oath, and exacted that homage from his col- 
leagues, whom he was desirous of reducing to the 
situation of vassals to the Roman See, whose subjects 
they become at the very moment when the authority 
which they acquire over their fellow citizens ought to 
leave them free from all obligations except those due 
to their country. 

The next paper proves, by the most natural inter- 
pretation of each article in the oath taken by the 
bishops to the See of Rome, that it is nothing else but 
14 



15S SECRETS OF 

an express and solemn promise on oath to betray their 
respective sovereigns, and that each clause of the oath 
imposes an obligation to commit high treason. 

XI. The canon law is attacked by a monk named 
Francis- Wenceslaus Barkovich. " The letters which 
we have quoted, the decretals of Mercator, are full of 
maxims unknown before that time : dictated by the 
grossest ignorance, they abound in the most glaring 
anachronisms ; are wholly unworthy of the majestiG 
simplicity of the first ages of Christianity, and entirely 
contrary to its ancient practice. The discovery of the 
imposture came too late. The Court of Rome, taking 
advantage of the ignorance which everywhere pre- 
vailed, laid hold of it at once, first for establishing, and 
afterwards for consolidating and extending beyond all 
precedent, the authority which she arrogated to herself. 

" The principal doctrines inculcated in that fraudu- 
lent collection are, that the Pope is bishop of all Chris- 
tendom ; that all causes of importance ought to be 
brought by appeal before the See of Rome ; that 
causes relating to bishops belong exclusively to the 
Pope ; that he onght to convoke and preside in all 
general councils ; that no council, whether general or 
particular, is binding unless approved of by the Pope ; 
that he has authority to allow bishops to give up the 
churches to which they have been appointed, for the 
purpose of being translated to a richer and more illus- 
trious See ; that apostolic appeals to the See of Rome 
were usual before the Council of Sardica ; that metro- 
politans were never allowed to enter upon the exercise 
of their functions before obtaining the pallium at the 
hands of the Pope ; that from the very origin of Chris- 
tianity, it was an established and undisputed maxim 
that every church which departed from the usages and 
ceremonies adopted by the Church of Rome, ought to 
be considered as heretical, &c. 

"Notwithstanding the measures adopted in latter 
times for checking the excessive power of the Popes, 
that power is still sufficiently enormous to encourage 
the hope of re-establishing and enlarging it. Sove- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 159 

reign princes will have always grounds for fear whilst 
the bishops are treated as subjects by the Court of 
Rome ; whilst money shall continue to flow in abun- 
dance towards Rome, and while the favors which these 
princes allow her to distribute with such profusion, 
shall have the power of procuring for her partisans 
and abettors.*' 

XII. An important and excellent memoir was drawn 
up by the commission which the Republic of Venice 
intrusted with the reform of the public institutions for 
education. 

The redactor of the memoir proves that the Go- 
vernment had done but little towards the emancipation 
of the civil authority by proscribing the Bull In Ccena 
Domini. " The reform which is most required," says 
he, " is that of the studies of ecclesiastics, in order to 
prevent anti-social principles from becoming the reli- 
gion of those who are destined by their profession to 
instruct and direct the people. For this purpose it is 
necessary to abolish the canon law and the decretals, 
which are the real sources of that monstrous system — 
the Bull In Ccena Domini being only a natural and 
necessary consequence of it. 

" In these decretals a doctrine is taught, which is 
contrary to every law both human and divine. By 
these decretals a monarch is set up who recognises no 
other limits to his dominion than the universe ; whose 
laws and commands the kings and princes of the earth 
are bound to obey ; and if any of them shall dare to 
maintain his right to sovereignty, he is declared guilty 
of treason and rebellion ; his subjects are released from 
their oath of fidelity, and his territories exposed and 
abandoned to the invasion of foreigners. 

" This despot is also declared to be the legislator of 
the universe ; to be possessed of authority to alter, re- 
form, or abolish, the laws of all kingdoms and of all 
states ; to be a judge, to the decisions of whose tribu- 
nal all the sovereigns of the earth must submit ; whose 
decrees are infallible, and admit of no appeal, because 
those which he pronounces are held to be the decrees 



r60 SECRETS OF 

of God himself; and those who appeal from them, are 
declared to be rebellious and refractory, and are de- 
prived of all communion with the pious. 

" This code has no other end in view than that of 
establishingdespotism and universal monarchy through- 
out the whole earth. All sovereigns are bound to yield 
homage and obedience to that formidable monarch ; 
and if the least opposition is exhibited, rebellions, wars, 
and insurrections, are the consequence ; while the sove- 
reigns, Avho. in defence of their just rights, have had 
the misfortune to offend this priest-king, are deprived 
at once of their kingdoms and their lives — a melan- 
choly prediction of the misfortunes and premature 
death of Joseph the Second and Leopold. 

" A bold and enterprising militia," the Roman priests, 
"animated by fanaticism, cupidity, and ambition, bound 
by vows and solemn oaths, and always ready, on the 
slightest signal from that monarch, to whom, by the 
rules of its institution, it is called upon to yield the 
most blind and slavish obedience, to excite the storm 
of rebellion and insurrection, — that militia, which is 
spread over every state in Christendom, is fraught with 
danger and alarm ; because, by taking advantage of 
the superstition and ignorance of the people, whose 
good opinion it has acquired by a false character for 
piety and knowledge, it is sufficiently powerful to give 
just cause of dread, mistrust, and jealousy, to every 
Government in whose states it is placed. 

" The Jesuits, a veteran and zealous troop, have 
obtained from this grateful monarch the most signal 
rewards and privileges : in granting which, the people 
have not only been deeply injured, but their rights 
have been saci'ificed, because the Jesuits have shown 
themselves more anxious and careful than any other 
to extend the limits of the new empire, and in every 
state have not scrupled to excite discord and sedition 
for the purpose of maintaining and defending it. Even 
in our day, though nearly overcome by the repeated 
attacks which have been made upon them, they are 
both terrible and formidable to the most powerful mo- 






FEMALE CONVENTS. Itjl 

narchs of Christendom, who do not believe that they 
can be secure from those just fears, suspicions, and 
jealousies, with which they have hitherto been ha- 
rassed, until the order be completely abolished. 

" The code of decretals was received by Raymond 
de Pennafort, without examination, judgment, or in- 
quiry, in ages which were darkened by superstition 
and ignorance ; and was compiled, according to the 
prejudices of these unhappy times, with no other view 
than that of investing the spiritual power with an ab- 
solute, despotic, and arbitrary authority. All the de- 
cretals attributed to the first three centuries of the 
Church are clearly false ; while many of those said to 
belong to succeeding ages, have evidently been falsified 
to suit and accommodate the new system of Govern- 
ment." 

These decretals have regularly been invoked when- 
ever it became necessary to employ a pretended de- 
fence of the rights of God as a pretext for invading 
those belonging to Csesar. These latter rights were, 
however, recognised by our Savior himself in the pre- 
sence of Pilate ; were supported by the Apostles in 
their preachings ; respected by the early saints ; and 
their lawfulness inculcated by the fathers of the 
Church. They were exercised by the Emperors until 
the eleventh century ; and if they were at length over- 
thrown by the wars between the priesthood and the 
empire, and weakened by the factions of the Guelfs 
and Ghibelins, who stained with blood both the Church 
and the state, the priesthood alone is accountable for it 
to religion and humanity. 

" To these decretals, and to the unfounded principles 
of divine right, are to be attributed the abuse which 
was made of the power of the keys, as well as the 
doctrine of direct and indirect dominion, which was 
hatched to establish a despotism infinitely more abso- 
lute and horrible than was ever witnessed in any east- 
ern monarchy. To the same source are to be traced 
those interdicts which were employed to excite, to aid, 
and to justify the people in rebelling against, murder- 
14* 



1«2 SECRETS OF 

ing, deposing, and banishing, their sovereigns : — that 
universal government of the Church which deprived 
the bishops of that authority which was conferred 
upon them by Jesus Christ, the only supreme head and 
shepherd of the Church ; those personal and real im- 
munities so hurtful and injurious to the lawful jurisdic- 
tion of princes and magistrates ; as well as all those 
other monstrous doctrines which have destroyed every 
idea and principle of human and divine right. 

" Gregory VII. was the author of this new doctrine, 
and of the differences which took place between the 
priesthood and the empire. Supported by the forces 
and the fanaticism of the Countess Matilda, he carried 
on for several years an unjust war with the Emperor 
Henry IV., merely because he would not relinquish his 
rights. For these reasons, which ought to have ren- 
dered his memory odious both to the Church and to 
the State, Gregory was placed on the list of martyrs, 
as is attested by the lessons in his Office, which were 
published in 1728." 

That Pope is praised in the office alluded to, as the 
one who, since the time of the Apostles, has done most 
service to the Church, which he governed, not accord- 
ing to human wisdom, but in accordance with the dic- 
tates of the Holy Spirit. The author of the memorial 
remarks, that the doctrine which he inculcated was 
not that spirit of peace, of charity, of concord, of obe- 
dience and submission to established authorities, which 
the Gospel recommends to the practice of its disciples. 

Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, was also in- 
serted in the catalogue of saints, because he taught 
that the Pope had absolute authority over bishops, and 
that the bishops were completely independent of the 
civil power, to which he would not allow them to take 
the usual oath of fidelity. 

" In our days a Cardinal found it necessary to throw- 
all his influence and energy into the scale, in order to 
prevent Bellarmin, the most ferocious abettor and de- 
fender of that anti-christian doctrine, from being raised 
to the rank of a saint. The only title which that 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 163 

haughty prelate could possibly have to such distinc- 
tion, was this ; that he extended the despotism of the 
spiritual power farther than had been imagined before 
his time, either by human pride, by fanaticism, or by 
the adulatory spirit of his brethren, the Jesuits." 

The memorial next presents us with a just and en- 
ergetic description of the evils which were accumu- 
lated by the spiritual power, on the heads of those 
princes who were bold enough to attack these absurd 
pretensions ; and also with a striking picture of the 
extravagant proceedings of the successors of Grego- 
ry VII. " 

'•' Louis IX. of France was threatened by the Pope 
with all the terrors of an interdict, because, in an as- 
sembly of the principal lords of his kingdom, he had 
given orders that none of his vassals should be re- 
sponsible to the ecclesiastical tribunals in matters 
purely civil, and that the clergy should appear before 
the secular judges in all causes relating to their fiefs. 
A few years afterwards, the Pope's legate sanctioned 
in a council, held in France itself, the usurpations of 
the clergy, notwithstanding their being so hurtful and 
injurious to the authority of the sovereign. The kings 
and princes of the earth had indeed good reason to 
dread even the sight of these domineering ministers of 
the spiritual power ; for by their mandate, councils 
were annually assembled, without the knowledge or 
consent of the sovereign, in the very heart of his do- 
minions, which, under the specious names of the liber- 
ties and immunities of the Church, confirmed the des- 
potism and independence of the clergy. In these 
councils, war, peace, alliances, trade, policy, laws, 
modes of government, judicial systems, the rights of 
monarchs — everything was discussed and regulated 
according to the views and interests of these formida- 
ble monarchs. Supported by that bold and enter- 
prising militia which every where fomented war, dis- 
cord, sedition, rebellion, ignorance, superstition, and 
fanaticism among the people, they were sure of their 



164 SECRETS OF 

laws and commands being received and respected by 
every sovereign of Christendom. 

" Rome, during those ages of darkness and super- 
stition, saw all the sovereigns of Christian states within 
her walls : some of them imploring pardon for having 
undertaken a just war in defence of their most sacred 
rights ; others declaring themselves the vassals and 
tributaries of the Church ; many receiving a preca- 
rious investiture of those states which they had ob- 
tained either by conquest, by consent of the people, or 
by inheritance through a long succession of ancestors ; 
and all of them obliged to submit, in full view of the 
people, to the vilest and most humiliating acts of 
degradation." 

The priests, though called upon by their profession 
to be the messengers of indulgence and universal cha- 
rity, were only the instruments of Popes for excom- 
municating their enemies and opponents. 

" In these latter times, during which ignorance and 
superstition began to be diminished, interdicts have 
become less frequent, notwithstanding the attention of 
the Popes to preserve and confirm in their Bulls that 
sanguinary and antichristian doctrine to which they 
are indebted for their exorbitant power. The Bulls of 
Alexander III., of Boniface VIII., and Innocent III., 
cannot be perused without feeling the utmost horror 
and indignation. Paul IV., that ferocious and violent 
Pope, who with so much audacity and insolence cited 
before his terrible tribunal at Rome, the two Empe- 
rors, Charles V. and Ferdinand III. his brother, be- 
cause one of them had resigned, and the other accepted 
the imperial authority without his consent, — this Pope, 
in a Bull signed by all his cardinals, decreed, that in 
future, every count, baron, marquis, duke, king, or em- 
peror, who had fallen into or should be convicted of, 
heresy and schism, should be totally deprived of their 
dominions ; that they should be incapable of possessing 
any in future ; and that they could never be restored 
to their former condition. Every action, however in- 
nocent, which did not favor his system of despotism 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 165 

and universal monarchy, was declared by that Pope to 
be heresy. His pride made him reject the obedience 
which Elizabeth of England proffered to him, and his 
threats confirmed that kingdom in its separation from 
Rome. 

" The interdict lately fulminated against the Duke 
of Parma, ought to awaken the dread and jealousy, 
formerly entertained by every sovereign prince, of the 
Court of Rome. Such a recent example of the exer- 
cise of the authority which she arrogates to herself, 
over a member of a family lohich holds the first place 
in Europe in point of authority, grandeur, and power, 
and in times so critical and difficult for herself, ought 
to inspire every sovereign with a just dread, lest, taking 
advantage of those opportunities with which more fa- 
vorable circumstances may supply her, she again at- 
tempt to put her despotic power in force against them. 

" Such is the doctrine contained and taught in de- 
cretals — a doctrine both sanguinary and seditious — a 
doctrine which establishes the despotism of the spi- 
ritual power, and the slavery of every sovereign — a 
doctrine which foments the ambitious and independent 
spirit of the clergy, and excites rebellion among the 
people ; a doctrine which has caused and will continue 
to cause constant dread, suspicion, jealousy, and dis- 
trust in the bosom of every sovereign. It is one which 
strikes at the root of every natural and divine right ; 
a doctrine which overturns the most solid foundations 
of human society, and which, in bringing back the 
times of ignorance and superstition, will renew those 
scenes of discord which took place between the priest- 
hood and the empire. It is, moreover, a doctrine which 
must have hindered, and will continue to impede, the 
propagation of the Gospel among those heathen and 
idolatrous nations when they become aware that there 
is in Christianity a power which can excite, at plea- 
sure, sedition, war, and rebellion among the people ; 
which foments and nourishes fanaticism and supersti- 
tion ; and which has extended the spiritual empire 
even beyond the limits of the known world. 



166 SECRETS OF 

" The line of demarcation pointed out by Pope Alex- 
ander VI., who disgraced the Church by so many 
horrible crimes and such abandoned wickedness, is 
well known. In order to prevent war and discord be- 
tween the Spanish and Portuguese, he fixed the limits 
within which they might carry on their conquests in 
regions altogether unknown, over which he could have 
no other rights than those of fanaticism and universal 
monarchy, and the new conquerors none but those ac- 
quired by force, by violence, and usurpation. This 
doctrine of the decretals, has more than once obliged 
Christian princes to violate treaties which they had 
entered into with infidels, and confirmed with oaths — 
the strongest bands of human society ; and it has en- 
slaved the church which was free in times of the 
fiercest persecution. It is a doctrine which was totally 
unknown in those ages of the Church most celebrated 
for their piety ; it is a doctrine completely at variance 
with the spirit, and with the precepts of the Gospel." 

In continuation of what he had said in regard to 
the false titles by which the sacerdotal power is main- 
tained, the author of the memoir expresses himself in 
the following terms : which we copy, as even in our 
days these same titles exist, because the ecclesiastical 
authority shows a strong desire to turn them to ac- 
count, and because imprudent Governments are labor- 
ing to procure it the means. 

" It was during the eleventh century that those false 
decretals were published, in which, besides the inde- 
pendence of the clergy, it was distinctly inculcated 
that the orders of the Court of Rome, were to be obey- 
ed every where, and by every class of persons without 
delay or contradiction, and that no civil law had any 
force or authority against its canons and decrees ; that 
the tribunal of the church is superior to that of the so- 
vereign ; and that the laws of the state ought only to 
be obeyed when they are not contrary to those of the 
church. About this period also were falsified those 
ancient laws and canons which militated against this 
monstrous system. The clergy supported by these 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 167 

false documents, not content with the independence 
which they had acquired by open rebellion, and ren- 
dered audacious by the ignorance and attachment of 
the people, usurped a great part of the authority which 
belonged to the magistrates. After this usurpation, 
the authority of sovereigns was overthrown and demo- 
lished by means of false documents, which taught the 
superiority of the spiritual over the temporal power ; 
that princes were inferior to bishops, and that they 
ought not to undertake or regulate any thing except 
according to their advice. 

"Such was the monstrous system, so totally contra- 
ry to the doctrines of the Gospel, and before that time 
unknown in any age or nation, by means of which 
Gregory VII. pretended that the temporal power was 
subordinate to the spiritual ; that the Church alone 
had the power of conferring crowns and judging sove- 
reigns, and that all princes were vassals of the Court 
of Rome, and ought to take an oath of fidelity to her, 
as well as pay her an annual tribute." 

The Bishop's plans for religious reforms were put 
in execution. Chevalier Banchieri, who was appoint- 
ed administrator of the estates belonging to the sup- 
pressed monasteries, fully concurred with him in all 
his measures, and a manufactory was established for 
the employment of the poor, which soon acquired con- 
siderable importance. Pistoia has a population of 
eight thousand souls. Ricci divided it into eight par- 
ishes each governed by a cure or prior, who received 
three hundred crowns a year, and by four chaplains, 
who were paid a hundred and forty crowns. Having 
thus united every kind of church property to the ec- 
clesiastical patrimony, which was charged with the 
payment of the ministers' salaries, and the expenses of 
public worship, he severely forbade the priests from 
receiving money from the people on any pretext what- 
ever. They were obliged to officiate, to marry, bap- 
tize, and bury gratis, and the expenses of all religious 
ceremonies were definitively fixed. The number of 
tapers put round the dead was the same for both poor 



163 SECRETS OF 

and rich : and when the sum appointed by the defunct 
person, or his heirs, exceeded the expense, the surplus 
was devoted to purposes of charity. Many of the 
clergy voluntarily submitted to these new regulations, 
and the Bishop had the satisfaction of finding that the 
diffusion of knowledge had begun to work effects, 
which he trusted could never be destroyed. 

The Grand Duke augmented the funds of the eccle- 
siastical patrimony instituted by Ricci, and bestowed 
on it all the wealth of the suppressed monasteries. 
" These institutions," says the Bishop, " afforded in 
early times, retreats for men wearied with the barbari- 
ties and vices of war. But they have since been made 
the asylums only of idleness and sensuality. The 
convents became intolerable by their numbers, and 
served as places of confinement, where one half of the 
people was condemned to celibacy. Leopold saw the 
abuses which had been introduced; and notwithstand- 
ing the anger of the Papal Court, determined on effect- 
ing a reformation. With the riches of the monks he 
endowed poor parishes, whose priests almost failed of 
subsistence. He founded new ones where they were 
wanted. He assisted and established hospitals : found- 
ed places of education, and conferred such benefits on 
Tuscany, that his name deserves to be eternally com- 
memorated." With the powerful assistance of Leopold, 
Ricci found no obstacle sufficient to retard his comple- 
tion of the seminary of Pistoia. The edifice employ- 
ed a considerable number of hands, formed a new fea- 
ture in the appearance of the town, encouraged indus- 
try, and even tended to the revival of the Fine Arts. 
The petty intrigues which were sometimes employed 
against him, he immediately made known to Leopold, 
and they were as immediately stopped by the active 
and zealous determination of that Prince. 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 163 



CHAPTER VIII 



Miraculous Image. — Matrimonial Dispensations. — Abolition of Ecclesi- 
astical Courts. — Diminution of Convents. — Attempts against Ricci. 

Rice i, having organized the seminary of Pistoia, 
extended his reforms to that of Prato ; but though he 
met with great opposition on all accounts, the single 
altar was what excited the loudest murmurs, when- 
ever it was proposed. After alluding to a pretended 
miraculous image of the Virgin in a church at Arezzo, 
he says, that " it served as a pretext for pillage, mas- 
sacres, and all kinds of impieties, of which the image 
was thus rendered an accomplice ;" for which reason, 
when he withdrew a similar image of the Virgin from 
its hiding-place at Prato, he had it newly painted, that 
it might not deceive the people, as it had formerly done, 
into errors and excesses. 

Ricci was highly offended at the manner in which 
the Court of Rome dealt in dispensations of marriage, 
styling the trade "infame bottega" an infamous shop. 
He determined on the authority of Leopold, to grant 
dispensations in the diocess of Pistoia and Prato : his 
diocesans applied to him instead of the Papal Court, 
and contracted with confidence any marriages which 
he authorized. His dispensations cost nothing, while 
those of the Pope were enormously dear. In the 
course of five years he granted three hundred and 
seventeen dispensations. His conduct in this was par- 
ticularly displeasing to the Papal Court, though he 
received, pompous eulogies from the Pope on occasion 
of the report he made of the state of his diocess ; and 
the Pontifical Secretary of State, Cardinal Pallavicini, 
exhorted him strongly to hold a diocesan synod. But 
while Ricci was endeavoring to regulate his diocess, 
and watch over its interests, the monks and nuns per- 
sisted in contradicting him on all points, and disobey- 
ing him in matters which he judged of the highest 
15 



170 SECRETS OF 

importance. They resumed acting plays, and dancing 
in the convents of the nuns, though he had rigorously 
forbidden them, from the period of his becoming a 
bishop. 

The next object of Ricci was to reduce the number 
of monasteries in each diocess to one or two, in order 
to subject them to the jurisdiction of the bishops. But 
this was attacking the monks in their strong-holds, and 
the opposition he met with from them lasted the rest 
of his life. They particularly did all in their power to 
withhold from the knowledge of Ricci, their plans of 
cloister studies, which, says Ricci, were composed of 
" peripatetic philosophy and Scottism, taught in the 
most barbarous Latin." 

Ricci had dispensed licenses of marriage, &c. gratis, 
but he could not please all parties. A family of mer- 
chants called Piccioli, wished that the widow of one 
of them should espouse her late husband's brother, in 
order that the property should be kept in the family. 
For this purpose they applied to Ricci ; but he, not 
judging a dispensation proper under the circumstance, 
refused it. On this, the parties applied to Rome, where, 
by dint of bribes, they obtained permission to marry ; 
but as the authority did not extend to Tuscany, they 
could not be acknowledged as married persons there. 
The Grand Duke, moreover, was enraged at their ob- 
stinacy, and exiled them from his territories. In this 
extremity, they once more addressed themselves to 
Ricci, who, touched by their submission, obtained their 
pardon, and married them anew. He was always open 
to the petitions of those who demanded to be freed 
from such religious vows as they had taken while 
under age ; and both male and female religious persons 
found in him an advocate in such cases for their secu- 
larization. 

The reforms of Ricci met with the most determined 
opposition ; but he waited with patience for the time 
when men should become enlightened, and endeavored 
to hasten that time, by furnishing his diocesans with 
good books. He sent the curates copies of them, per- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 171 

suaded that the taste for their perusal would spread 
from them among their parishioners. The peasants 
used to purchase those books, to read them in the eve- 
ning to their families ; and in order to propagate this 
taste, the Grand Duke banished all the hawkers of the 
printed indulgences of the Court of Rome. 

Among other projects of Ricci, was that of the abo- 
lition of the litigious and contentious Ecclesiastical 
Courts ; but though he failed, he succeeded in reform- 
ing their practice. He endeavored, but in vain, to have 
the bishops and other high functionaries of the Church 
paid by salaries, like the inferior orders of the clergy, 
as being the only means of preventing the property of 
the Church from being wasted or expended by a prodi- 
gal predecessor. The progress of the French revolu- 
tion, however, absorbed all the attention of Leopold ; 
and the constant opposition of the bishops to the mea- 
sure prevented the meritorious designs of Ricci from 
being carried into execution. 

The Dominicans of Maria Novella at Florence, in 
the mean time, neglected nothing to recover a portion 
of the influence they had lost in Pistoia. Ricci opposed 
them, and was seconded by the Grand Duke, who, by 
an edict, abolished for ever the lotteries for giving 
dowries to girls, on occasion of the various festivals, 
accompanied by the promise of indulgences as exces- 
sive as they were scandalous and absurd, by which 
large sums were gained, especially in the country. 
The laws which existed against the begging clergy in 
Tuscany, had not been observed. Ricci now enforced 
their execution ; employed the money which had till 
then been spent in dowries, in a wiser manner ; and 
instituted conservatories for women, who were to be 
brought up from the age of eight to twenty-four, with 
the view of becoming industrious and good wives. 
At the latter age, however, they were obliged to leave 
the institution, lest, as Ricci apprehended, such places 
should grow into real nunneries, through the bigotry 
of the elder members. 

In 1785, the Secretary Seratti was created Counsel- 



172 SECRETS OF 

lor of State. He opposed all the plans of Ricci, in 
which he was warmly seconded by the Civil Lieuten- 
ant of Pistoia. This opposition obliged Ricci to look 
for a co-operator with him in his beneficent projects. 
He thought of Martini, Secretary for the Rights of the 
Crown ; and in the hope of rendering him an ally, he 
showed more respect for Martini than he deserved. 
He seemed at first to have succeeded. Martini required 
of the bishops an account of their revenues, but they 
either refused to answer, lest they should lose the 
Pope's favor, or they replied that their diocesses were 
poor, and destitute of the resources with which Pistoia 
and Prato abounded. Ricci unveiled the falsehood 
of these assertions, pointed out the real sources of the 
wealth of the clergy, and recommended a more equal 
distribution of it. 

Ricci gives us an account of his vigilant attention to 
the plan of studies pursued by the monks of Giac- 
cherino, the only place of study which the regulars had 
in his diocess. The monks opposed all his plans of 
improvement, in which they were supported by the 
practice of the other bishops : for though Ricci drew 
up a list of the books which he wished to be employed 
in the instruction of the youth of his diocess, he was 
the only bishop who took any vigorous or decided 
measures. The Grand Duke did not think proper to 
pass any general law on the subject ; so that Ricci 
only gained by his projects the reputation of an enthu- 
siast, and an enemy to the Court of Rome. He was, 
however, unmoved by these clamors ; and, in order to 
overcome the bishops' resistance to the reforms of Leo- 
pold, which he thought had its source in their fidelity 
to their oath of consecration, he addressed himself to 
Seratti on the subject. The affair, however, dropped, 
and no measures were taken to remedy the existing 
evils. 

The Bishop made a new attempt by sending to Leo- 
pold some original document proving that the" Court of 
Rome abused the power which the oath taken by the 
bishops gave it, by "obliging them to resist their 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 173 

sovereigns," says Ricci, " whenever they touch upon 
the false rights of the pretended Papal monarchy." 
Leopold's reforms were not intended to intrench upon 
the Pope's rights ; but he did not go to ,the root of the 
evil in all cases. One of the most grievous disorders 
lay in " cases of conscience," of which the bishops had 
reserved for their own decision a great number,— and 
in which they alone had the power of absolution. 
u They have become the slaves, instead of the brothers 
of the Pope ; and usurp the rights of the priests and 
curates, as Rome has usurped theirs, by despoiling 
them of their natural and legitimate authority." 

It was with the utmost delicacy towards the bishops 
that Leopold attacked this abuse ; but he was not 
obeyed in the greater part of the diocesses, or for any 
length of time. All the bishops were opposed to him, 
and their advisers still more so. Ricci gives us the 
character of the latter. " They were," says he, " some 
ignorant advocate, invested with the character of 
chancellor, or a serving priest, without any knowledge 
of ecclesiastical affairs, and puffed up with their Roman 
vanity." The reserved cases of conscience, which 
were generally indecent or absurd, were decided on, 
not by a synod, but arbitrarily ; and these continued! 
to exist as before. 

The list of excommunications and cases still actually 
reserved for the decision of the Archbishop of Pisa, 
who can alone grant absolution for them, contains the 
common absurdity of confounding indecencies and 
real crimes with actions indifferent in themselves. 
The eating of meat on days prohibited by the Church, 
and other offences against its particular ordinances., 
are placed upon a level with the worst crimes of which 
men can be guilty, such as seduction and rape, bearing 
false witness, and wilful murder. 

It moreover contains an absurdity peculiar to itself 
— that of having classed with forgers and assassins, 
" those who fell trees in the forests of the archiepiscopal 
menscB. called Tombolo, Tomboletto, Poggio a Padule, 
and other farms in Migliarino, without the permission 
15* 



174 SECRETS OF 

of the Archbishop, or of his procurator." These ex- 
corn munications and reserved cases are printed at Pisa, 
at the Archbishop's press, by Rainier Prosperi, with 
permission of the Superiors. These reserved cases 
differ in each diocess. A most revolting crime has 
never been pronounced more than a misdemeanor at 
Florence. At Fiesole, which is situated at the gates 
of that city, it becomes a reserved case, and has been 
there distinguished, by the compiler of the catalogue 
of these exorbitant sins, into a crime proper, and a 
crime improper. 

The person who carried this senseless absurdity in 
the distinction of these reserved cases to the greatest 
length, was one of the last of the Stuarts, Cardinal 
Henry York, Vice-chancellor of the Roman Church, 
and Bishop of Tusculum, Frascati. Tn a diocesan 
synod, which he held in 1763, assisted by a Jesuit as 
manager, the acts of which synod he published at 
Rome, the following year, with the approbation of the 
Pontifical Government, he specified in the most offen- 
sive and absurd manner every species of unnatural 
crime as requiring his special and personal absolution. 

We give the Latin title of the singular book which 
contains these ridiculous abominations, and which we 
also preserve in the original for the sake of decency. 

"Appendix ad Tusculanam Synodum a celsitudine 
regia eminentissima Henrici episcopi Tusculani, S. R. 
E. vice-cancellarii, Cardinalis Ducis Eboracensis, in 
Tusculano cathedrali templo apostolorum principis S. 
Petri celebratam, diebus viii. ix. et x. Septembris, A. D, 
mdcci.xiii. Excudebat Romas Generosns Salamoni, 
anno 1764, superioribus annuentibus." 

Num. 12, -cap. 10, art. 9, § 9. — " Casus quorum ab- 
solutionem sibi reservat regia celsitudo eminentissima 
dominus Cardinalis Dux Eboracensis episcopus Tus- 
culanis." 

The Grand Duke, desirous that the women who 
devoted themselves to a monastic life, should at least 
be aware of what they were about, ordained that the 
minimum of the age for pronouncing the vows should 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 175 

be twenty-two. He also forbade the practice of asking 
or receiving dowries with the nuns ; but in order to 
prevent that regulation from having the effect of 
crowding the nunneries, he directed that the parents of 
each nun should pay, according to their ability, some 
considerable sum to the Hospital of the place. He 
allowed those who entered his conservatories to choose, 
within a certain time, between an ordinary and a 
cloistered life ; if they chose the latter, they were 
bound to devote themselves to the instruction of poor 
girls in some manual work, and in the Christian doc- 
trines. His aim, moreover, was to augment the num- 
ber of good housewives and mothers in his states, and 
to diminish that of "the unfortunate victims of a 
forced celibacy? 

Ricci endeavored to diminish the number of con- 
vents, and proved to the Nuncio Crivelli, who opposed 
him, that Florence held within its walls more convents 
than Rome itself, though the population of the former 
was not much more than half that of the capital of 
Catholicism. He maintained that the multitude of 
convents tended only to render some persons rich at 
the expense of the unhappy nuns ; and he proved, 
through the examination of some of them by confi- 
dential priests, that they were generally ignorant of 
their duties and the force of their vows, " which they 
observed judaically '." 

The greater number of the convents was converted 
into conservatories ; and their reformation was of infi- 
nite service to Tuscany in general, by the instruction 
they spread among the poor, and by giving birth to 
hospitals and other charities. The convent of Marcel, 
however, was the only one which fully conformed to 
Leopold's wishes ; and in return for spreading so much 
good around it, it was persecuted by the successors of 
Ricci, and "the nuns were accused of being as proud 
as so many Lucifers." 

The enemies of Ricci were not yet weary of perse- 
cuting him. They ordered him to furnish the sum of 
12,000 crowns to the diocess of Pisa. But this endea- 



176 SECRETS OF 

vor to entrap him was eluded, by his addressing him- 
self to the Grand Duke, to whom he proved how in- 
consistently his enemies acted, in accusing him at one 
moment of wasting his ecclesiastical patrimony in new 
buildings, and coming upon him the next with de- 
mands to cover expenses with which he had nothing 
to do. Leopold ordered the Archbishop of Pisa to look 
elsewhere for the money he required, and never to 
think of making use of any sum belonging to Ricci 
without his formal consent. New force was added to 
the malice of his enemies by a report, which was in- 
dustriously spread by the Pope, that a synod of Cardi- 
nals was assembled at Rome to judge of the conduct 
and doctrines of Ricci : which had the double effect of 
destroying any inclination in the other bishops to fol- 
low his example, and of exciting still farther the irri- 
tation against the Emperor Joseph, which had been 
already powerfully awakened by the monks. 

Ricci speedily experienced the effects of the enmity 
of his adversaries, when he wished to free the property 
of his diocesans from the obligation of paying for 
masses and other religious ceremonies, which had de- 
generated into a traffic. For this purpose, he pub- 
lished and circulated tracts relative to the sacrifice of 
the mass, and some writings proving the justice and 
ability of Leopold's measures, as they regarded eccle- 
siastical matters. The Grand Duke seconded his 
Bishop's endeavors to cause the money, which was 
employed in masses, to be used for the poor, and the 
education and maintenance of their children : and the 
good to which this led, encouraged Leopold to attempt 
the suppression of all benefices which were in the 
hands of certain families for the benefit of the younger 
members, and who made them sinecures, paying 
strangers for services rendered not to the Church, but 
to themselves. 

But the good intentions of the Grand Duke on this 
head were rendered vain, by want of co-operation in 
the bishops, who were, for the greater part, violently 
opposed to all innovation in matters ecclesiastic : the 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 177 

rest remained neuter, contenting themselves with not 
opposing or obstructing the intentions of the Prince. 

The next step of Leopold was to order all the bishops 
" to hold a diocesan synod at least once in two years, 
conjointly with the curates, in order to examine into 
the abuses in discipline, and to apply the necessary 
remedies." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Formation of new Parishes. — Results of this measure in regard to the 
inhabitants of La Montagna. — Letter of the Grand Duke. — Ecclesias- 
tical Synods. — Riots at Prato. — Retirement of Ricci. — Letters. 

After Leopold had succeeded in removing some 
useless or hurtful members of the clergy, he wished to 
augment the number of those whose labors, he thought, 
would instruct the people. For this purpose, he created 
new parishes wherever it was probable that the pre- 
sence of the curate would improve civilization. The 
suppressions which he made had been blamed by his 
ministers as irreligious ; his additions were blamed as 
impolitic. " The people" said they, " are the better 
for being- ignorant o matters of religion — a bishop 
or priest^ who shoula be appointed to bless a nation 
from the top of a toiver is equal to all their wants." 

The inhabitants of u& Montagna were deeply in 
want of curates, who should not only act the part of 
faithful pastors, but also that of heads of families, 
when the men were gone to work at the Maremma. 
This Ricci signified to Leopold : his plan was ap- 
proved, and immediately acted upon. 

On this occasion, Ricci relates an adventure he met 
with in the course of this diocesan visit, undertaken 
in order to gain information for the Grand Duke. 
Some of his enemies had caused to be dug in the stony 
and narrow roads of La Montagna a deep pit, which 



178 SECRETS OF 

was covered with leaves, into which it was hoped Ricci 
and his horse would fall and perish there. The curate 
of the place had discovered this, by means of confes- 
sion, and hastened to inform the prelate's secretary, 
who communicated the fact to the magistrate. The 
latter removed the danger, and Ricci, finding the road 
in good condition, suspected nothing ; nor was he in- 
formed of this attempt on his life, till several months 
afterwards. 

How necessary it was to have priests residing at La 
Montagna, may be guessed from the fact, that the roads 
are so bad in winter, that twenty-three families, forming 
a whole village, lived six months of the year without 
priests or sacraments, until it was changed into a 
curacy. The priest of the next parish had, till then, 
been accustomed to officiate till the month of Septem- 
ber, and then to bid them adieu till the next Spring. 

Ricci's plan, and his zealous execution of it, pleased 
the Duke so much, that he invited the Bishop to din- 
ner at his villa, with his sister the Q-ueen of Naples, 
and King Ferdinand, then in Tuscany, to whom he 
related all the good that Ricci had done in his diocess, 
particularly in the Mountain of Pistoia : to which Fer- 
dinand listened with attention and interest, and ex- 
pressed a wish to introduce similar improvements into 
his own States. 

The visit of these royal persons, and Leopold's ill 
health, seemed to give the ministry a good opportunity 
of destroying Ricci's plans relative to La Montagna ; 
but their attempts to prejudice Leopold against him 
were vain. The ministers were provoked to find 
Ricci's plans succeed so easily, after they had pro- 
nounced them impracticable ; and the other Tuscan 
bishops were puzzled how to proceed. They ventured 
not to follow the example of Ricci, lest they should 
make enemies of Rome and the monks ; and they 
hated him the more, because he was so disinterested 
as to provoke perpetual comparisons with them, greatly 
to their disadvantage. 

Ricci was indignant at the Tuscan bishops for their 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 179 

meanness in compelling the priests, at whose houses 
they lived while visiting their diocesses, to entertain 
them magnificently, and to make presents to their sec- 
retaries, &c, to their own ruin. He proved to the 
Grand Duke, who was displeased already at this 
splendor, which by rendering the prelates inaccessible, 
made their pastoral visits useless — that these visits 
ought to be held at the expense of the prelates them- 
selves, and that, made as they ought to be, they ought 
not to exceed one hundred crowns a year — a sum 
which every bishop was in a condition to pay. 

Ricci's principal aim was uniformly the reformation 
of his own diocess ; and having remarked that the re 
ligious ceremonies performed during the night, gave 
rise to numerous disorders, he forbade them, under 
severe penalties, during the entire week preceding 
Christmas. 

In the year 1786, the Grand Duke, satisfied with 
Ricci's examination of Mancini's letter, submitted to 
him a circular, which he intended to address to all the 
Tuscan bishops, proposing to them several questions 
on ecclesiastical points, requesting them to reflect ma- 
turely on them before sending him their answers. 
Ricci altered and retrenched it as he thought best ; 
but his corrections arrived too late, and the greater 
part of them could not be adopted. At the assembly 
of the Tuscan bishops at Florence, nevertheless, it was 
publicly said that Ricci was the author of the Points, 
in order that they might be the more odious to the 
clergy. The Grand Duke granted six months' delay 
for answering these questions, declaring it to be his 
intention to submit them to the national council, and 
to obtain a perfect unity in doctrinal matters. 

The Court of Rome, at this time, absolutely dictated 
the answers which the bishops were to make to their 
Government. It had always done so, as Ricci had 
proved to Leopold, urging the obedience which the 
bishops owed to the Pope, and to none else. 

The reforms which Ricci wished to introduce into 
the church, were constantly opposed by the ministry, 



180 SECRETS OF 

in spite of the support of Leopold, whose weakness 
was as remarkable as his benevolence. The bishops 
and the Court of Rome lent their powerful aid to his 
enemies, and his plans relative to education were per- 
petually frustrated by the monks. " Slander and cal- 
umny," says he, " the usual arms of Rome, were put 
in action to overwhelm me." He was accused of hav- 
ing turned to his own profit the property of the sup- 
pressed convents — of having destroyed relic-worship — 
of having profaned images — of having falsified pray- 
ers, &c. Pretended priests of his diocess were sent to 
Rome to beg advice against the dangerous errors of 
their Bishop, &c. One of the canons of Pistoia wrote 
a defence of all the pretensions of the Church of Rome. 
But though these things were known to Leopold, he 
only punished the secondary actors in them, and never 
the principal. Rome had now begun the war which 
she meant to carry on against Ricci and his synod — 
the convocation of which she dreaded above all 
things. 

The Synod assembled in September, 1786. The 
celebrated Professor Tambunni,of Pa via, and Palmieri, 
who were to arrange the subjects of discussion, with 
several others distinguished for their talents, were pre- 
sent. Ricci endeavored to give his council all the 
solemnity possible, and the utmost conformity with the 
most celebrated synods. The clergy of Pistoia had 
already agreed on the points to be discussed, and were 
prepared to pass into a law what was already believed 
and professed. The council was held in the Church 
of Leopold, and consisted of 234 members. Ricci had 
not acquainted the Pope with any thing relative to his 
diocesan synod ; but, as he had signified his intention 
of holding one, it would certainly have been much 
more honorable in Pius VI. to have then declared his 
displeasure, than to undermine him, and after the 
death of his protector, Leopold, to persecute, him vio- 
lently. 

The council opened with the recitation of Pius the 
Fourth's Confession of Faith. Some of the members 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 181 

refused to sign the opinions of the council on grace, 
predestination, &c. ; and at the head of the opposition 
was a canon, an emissary of the Court of Rome. The 
matter most debated was that of the civil contract of 
marriage, which it was necessary to distinguish from 
the sacrament and the nuptial benediction ; and the 
Duke was applied to for his decision on it as a civil 
act. 

Leopold was delighted with the labors of his council. 
He encouraged the members by bis letters; and having 
learned that Rome was making efforts and intrigues to 
disturb the assembly, and sow discord among its mem- 
bers, he took the necessary measures of precaution 
against them. The nobility of Pistoia, however, were 
opposed to the council, which was denounced at Rome 
as a conspiracy, and Ricci was defamed in numberless 
libels. 

About this time arrived the answers to the fifty-seven 
questions which had been propounded by the Grand 
Duke to the Tuscan bishops. They were sufficiently 
contradictory, but they showed a wish to satisfy the 
Prince. Leopold was deceived by their apparent readi- 
ness; and wishing to carry the same perfect unanimity 
of sentiment into the details, as he thought he saw in 
the principal views, he determined on convoking a 
general council at Florence, which he believed was to 
put an end to the intrigues of Rome. Ricci endeavor- 
ed to persuade the Duke that this meeting would have 
fatal consequences, especially if it took place in the 
capital. 

The enemies of Ricci had already obtained the sup- 
pression of the acts of his synod until after the close 
of that of Florence. Having succeeded in this, they 
whispered that the publication of them had been for- 
bidden by the Government, and the Grand Duke him- 
self. The Bishop of Pistoia, hearing of this, urged 
Leopold to change his resolution, and to allow the 
acts of the assembly to appear, as his best protection 
against the intrigues of Rome and the calumnies of its 
creatures. 

16 



182 SECRETS OF 

Leopold objected to this, that it was reported that the 
acts themselves were to be sei'erely examined in an 
assembly of Cardinals ; therefore, fearing their publi- 
cation would only serve as a pretext for farther opposi- 
tion, he contented himself with writing a letter to Ricci, 
expressive of his entire satisfaction, and his approba- 
tion of his synod. 

The council of Florence was convoked, by order of 
the Grand Duke, in April, 17S7. From the very be- 
ginning of its sittings, the bishops imposed silence on 
the Duke's theologians, by saying. Nos magistri, vos 
discipuli: "We are the masters', ye are but the scho- 
lars.' 1 They engaged the assistance of the advocate 
Lampredi, a man of talents and eloquence; and believ- 
ing themselves wholly assembled for the purpose of 
deciding on the fate of Ricci, his synod, and his re- 
forms, they soon changed the council into a mere con- 
spiracy against the latter, and all innovation whatever. 

All this opposition did not discourage Ricci. His 
enemies had, therefore, but one expedient left ; this 
was to excite the people to a riot, and, by intimidating 
the Grand Duke, remove Ricci's principal support. 

At Pistoia it soon became known that the great body 
of the bishops were decidedly opposed to the reforms 
of Ricci. Several curates petitioned the Secretary to 
the Crown, and their metropolitan, the Archbishop of 
Florence, to abolish the innovations made at Pistoia 
and Prato, and to restore every thing on its former 
footing. The Archbishop Martini, and the Secretary 
of the same name, were the principal movers in this 
plot; but as the Grand Duke opposed these plans, they 
found that a revolt would be the only method likely to 
produce the destruction of reform in Tuscany. 

At that time the question of the worship of images, 
&c. was in agitation at Florence. Ricci was said, by 
his enemies, to entertain erroneous ideas on that head ; 
and it was whispered that he intended to pull down 
the altar where the Girdle of the Virgin was preserved, 
and to attempt other innovations equally dreaded by 
the people. 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 183 

It had been intimated to the Grand Duke that his 
support of Ricci and his reforms might have fatal 
political consequences ; but he refused to yield, and 
the riots were resolved upon. On the 20th of May, the 
tumult of Prato took place. In the evening, the mob, 
armed with sticks and hatchets, proceeded to the prin- 
cipal church to prevent the demolition of the Altar of 
the Girdle. They mounted the tower, rang the alarm- 
bell for several hours, tore down the Bishop's chair and 
arms, and burnt them in the market place, with seve- 
ral books which they found. The church was illumin- 
ated during the night, by order of the rioters, and the 
Holy Girdle was exposed to the reverence of the 
devout. 

From the church they proceeded to the spot where 
the images were placed, which had been removed from 
the suppressed monasteries, and carried them in pro- 
cession to the cathedral, holding in one hand a torch, 
and in the other a bottle of wine. They paid the same 
honors to the saints whose worship Ricci had abolished, 
and tore from the missal the masses for those whose 
worship he had introduced, which they burnt, together 
with the books he had distributed among his clergy. 
They pulled down the new baptisteries — threatened 
the heads of the seminary and the curates who were 
known to favor Ricci — made the priests get out of 
their beds and accompany them in their shirts to the 
different churches, to replace before the images the little 
curtains which Ricci had removed. The churches 
were soon all lighted up like the cathedral, and each 
went to pray or sing in them, as he pleased. 

The next morning all the peasants of the neighbor- 
hood arrived in the town, and ran from church to 
church, to pay their devotions to the images of the 
suppressed saints, and the images which, now that 
they were covered with a veil, had become, in their 
eyes, far more respectable. Pistoia would soon have 
followed the example of Prato, had not Leopold sent a 
detachment of soldiers from Florence, who soon re- 
stored order. The gates of Prato were closed, the 



1S4 SECRETS OF 

streets barricadoed, the houses and shops shut, and a 
number of persons were arrested and sent to the capi- 
tal. The Grand Duke gave orders that every thing 
should be restored to the. footing: on which it was be- 
fore the revolt. 

On hearing this distressing news, Ricci was deeply 
grieved. Nevertheless, he went to the assembly of the 
bishops, where, though he was warmly received by the 
few partisans and friends he had, he was greeted only 
with insulting murmurs by the bishops, his adversaries, 
who did not even speak to him. 

Prato had now returned to a sense of its evil con- 
duct. The town and the clergy sent a deputation to 
Leopold, who received them with kindness, stating, 
that he knew the root of the evil existed in Florence 
itself, though the revolt had been fomented by evil- 
designing priests at Prato ; that this formed only a 
part of a general rising, which had failed in conse- 
quence of their declaring themselves too soon ; and 
that Rome was mainly interested in the affair, and was 
in the confidence of the conspirators. 

But it was only in consequence of the reiterated 
requests of Ricci that the Grand Duke consented to 
forgive his undutiful subjects. The Bishop not only 
obtained the liberation of the chief actors in the revolt, 
but at his own expense supported the families of those' 
of the poorer classes who were imprisoned. He then 
seriously resolved to abdicate; and in a long letter 
which he wrote to the Grand Duke, after defending 
himself against the misrepresentations of which his 
conduct had been made the subject, and begging the 
Prince to pardon the insurgents, and to publish the 
acts of his synod, he tendered his resignation. To this 
he received a very affectionate answer the same day, 
sympathizing with him, and granting pardon to the 
revolters, but refusing to accept his resignation, as be- 
ing a step likely to produce consequences quite differ- 
ent from those contemplated by Ricci. 

Leopold next resolved upon dismissing the assembly. 
In June, 1787, he convoked the bishops, and told them 



FEMALE CONVENTS. ]85 

in a severe tone how much he was displeased at their 
conduct ; exhorted them to show an example of sub- 
mission, instead of revolt, to their flocks ; and warned 
them, that if they did not choose to reform abuses, he 
would use his right of doing it himself. 

The fifty-seven articles had been discussed, but the 
latter ones in great haste, on account of pressing cir- 
cumstances. The Grand Duke submitted them to 
Ricci, who refuted all the memorials which the bishops 
had contrived to insert in the acts. Leopold caused 
the whole to be printed in spite of the wish of Ricci, 
that for the sake of the honor of the Tuscan bishops, 
they should not be made public. 

The Grand Duke, irritated by the opposition of the 
clergy to his reforms, determined to wait no longer, 
and to begin them himself. Ricci, at his desire, fur- 
nished the plan ; but they were not proceeded in, on 
account of the revolutions which then began to agitate 
Europe. 

Several interesting letters are found in Ricci's me- 
moirs, illustrative of the state of the Continent at that 
period. 

July, 1787, the Abbe de Bellegarde wrote from Paris 
to Ricci : 

" The public newspapers will have informed you of 
the seditious movements in the Austrian Low Coun- 
tries. The principal instigators of them are, without 
doubt, the ex-jesuits, and the fanatical partisans of the 
Court of Rome. For many years they have been pre- 
paring the way for them by their discourses, their 
intrigues, and above all, by their alarm-cries, and the 
seditious writings with which they have inundated, 
and still continue to inundate the country. They en- 
deavored to persuade the public, that the Emperor's 
object was to overturn religion and the constitution of 
the state ; and unfortunately the changes in the affairs 
of government have served as a pretext to this latter 
calumny." 

In November, he announced the flight of the Aus- 
trians, and the report of the taking of Brussels by the 
16* 



186 



SECRETS OF 



insurgents. « If this last intelligence be true, the rebels 

are now masters of the country: In the mean time, 

ill they are dispossessed of it, Jesuitism and curialism 
will triumph there ; for it is in their favor that this re- 
volution is chiefly made. Tt is evidently a religious 
war, the principal pretext of which is all that the sove- 
reign has done to deliver the country from it; this is 

™ £?, f anc ^ 1CS Cal1 wishin £ t0 destr °7 religion." 
M. I Abbe Y. at that time entrusted with an import- 

SlbeiT^O: R ° me ' Wr ° te t0 the BlSh ° P ° f Pl ^° ia ' 
"You will probably have learnt the late events in 
Brabant. Scapularies and Capuchins' cords form part 
of the booty made by the conquerors, the Imperialists. 
1 figure to myself the fine exploits of the bearded gen- 
try; and this idea alone would excite my laughter/did 
not humanity and religion make me weep for the effu- 
sion of the blood of so many unfortunates, so strangely 
seduced and led to the slaughter by these villains of 
furious Papists— Papalini. Shall I tell you a very 
singular circumstance? The same Abbe de Toiler 
loo, who had promised invulnerability to the Flemish 
crusaders had been, previously to this period, abbe of 
he church of Norbert des Brabancons at Rome, and a 

thZH /I 11 keepS u P are ^ correspondence 
with people of the same stamp." 



CHAPTER X. 

Ricci's Apology and Retirement. 

The priests of Ricci's own diocess sent petitions to 
Florence, entreating the abolition of the reforms intro 
duced into Pistoia and Prato. Secretary Mar in was 

Le e onoTd lga l 01 *,? f th " e ™P*, - R 1C ci proved m 
Leopold, who threatened Martini with the loss of his 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 187 

place in case of their continuance. The Court of 
Rome had its emissaries at all the Catholic courts, en- 
deavoring- to excite a revolt of the people against their 
princes in its favor ; and the revolt of Prato was evi- 
dently a part of this vast plan. The people of Pistoia 
first petitioned for the restoration of the ancient order 
of things ; from supplications they proceeded to acts, 
and insisted upon having the ceremonies of the Church 
performed according to their pleasure. 

In October, 1787, Ricci published his eloquent 
" Apology." The Court of Rome was more irritated 
than ever at the success of this piece ; and its emis- 
saries, by their continued charges of heresy and inno- 
vation against Ricci, even succeeded for a moment in 
leading Leopold to doubt him, though these doubts 
were soon effaced. Ricci had the courage to return to 
Prato, in spite of being menaced with assassination ; 
and his mildness had the effect of restoring a momen- 
tary calm in that city. 

The publication of the Acts of the Assembly of 
Florence and of the Synod of Pistoia, produced a great 
effect throughout Catholic Europe ; and Ricci received 
from all parts the most flattering letters and sincere 
compliments relative to the Council of Pistoia. Amongst 
other acts of adherence to this council, Ricci received 
that of the Jansenist Archbishop of Utrecht, of the 
bishops his suffrages, and of all his metropolitan 
chapter, — an act which was officially transmitted to 
him by the Abbe de Bellegrade, accompanied by a 
letter dated Utrecht, November, 1789. 

A letter, equally remarkable, upon the same subject, 
is that of Le Bret, professor at Tubingen, written 
August, 1789. 

After having given Ricci every possible assurance 
of esteem and veneration, and testified the sincere in- 
terest he took in the persecutions to which that prelate 
had been exposed, the professor says that he has an- 
nexed to his letter, an academical dissertation com- 
posed by his pupils, relative to the affairs of the diocess 
of Pistoia, " in order to convince the Bishop of the 



188 SECRETS OF 

lively interest with which Protestants themselves are 
inspired by the unworthy treatment to which malice 
had subjected him." 

The Abbe wrote from Rome, December, 1790 : 

" The Spanish envoy, of the order of Augustin. 
having been questioned respecting the synod, whether 
he found heresies in it, and what was thought of it in 
Spain, candidly answered, that the Collection of its 
Acts was a holy book, and that in Spain it displeased 
none but the monks ; that the ministers considered 
it. excellent, and that, in spite of monkish intrigues, the 
reprint of it in the Spanish language has been allowed; 
but that, notwithstanding all this, the book will be pro- 
hibited at Rome, because the Pope listens to none but 
the Molinists. 

Leopold suppressed the residence of the Nuncio at 
his Court ; ordered that the monks, <fcc. of his states 
should be subject only to their bishops ; banished for- 
eign monks from Tuscany ; recalled the absentee ec- 
clesiastics ; and removed from Rome his minister Fei, 
who had been completely gained over by that Court. 
Rome was astonished at these proofs of firmness ; but, 
not daring to attempt any thing against him, directed 
all its endeavors to the destruction" of Ricci. 

With this view, a congregation of Cardinals was 
called, for the examination of the Synod of Pistoia. 
Nothing reprehensible was found in its acts : and a 
second, more severe, was assembled. This congrega- 
tion found some unimportant scruples only, relating 
to the meaning of terms, which they were ashamed to 
allege as complaints against it to the Tuscan Govern- 
ment. A third congregation was convoked; but though 
the Pope had promised to communicate the opinions of 
the assembly privately to Leopold, before taking any 
public steps, this was never done, and the congregation 
continued to sit, merely for the purpose of spreading a 
belief that there was something reprehensible in Ricci's 
synod, and of keeping the Bishop and his friends in 
perpetual fear of his arrest. 

Ricci continued to be calumniated ; and the intrigues 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 189 

of the Archbishop of Florence, his enemy, succeeded in 
obtaining his abandonment by the priests of his own 
diocess, and their recantation of the decisions of the 
synod, which they had themselves signed. The peo- 
ple began to be persuaded that the sacraments adminis- 
tered by Ricci and his partisans were null : and most 
of his diocesans sent their children to Florence to be 
baptized or confirmed. Ricci could not help making 
complaints of the way in which he was persecuted ; 
so that he passed for a turbulent and violent person. 

In the pontifical states, and still more at Rome, the 
old examples of clerical immorality were renewed. 

" I do not recollect whether I have already told you 
of the bad conduct of the Bishop of Foligno, who is 
publicly accused of being a sharper and unclean ! 
He is a worthy protege of Cardinal Buoncompagni." 

Cardinal Busca, at that time one of the chief and 
favored lovers of the Princess Santa Croce, former 
mistress of the French Ambassador, Cardinal de Ber- 
nis, dined at that lady's, in company with Pierre Paul 
de Medicis, son of Alverardo de Medicis, of Florence. 

" The partiality of that old Polixena for the charm- 
ing young man, excited the jealousy of the overgrown 
Cardinal, who gave way to the most indecent excesses. 
He abused his own footman at the table, for pouring 
out wine for Medici, saying, 'Are you also in the plot 
for cornuting me V Shortly after this, he threw a glass 
of wine in Medici's face, who immediately started up 
with a menacing air, brandishing a plate in his hand ; 
he, however, repressed his rage, and spoke with much 
prudence. The Roman Helen interposed, as the Sa- 
bines did after their ravishment." 

Public opinion, a circumstance worthy of reflection, 
which since the long occupation of the states of his 
Holiness by the French, was much more severe at 
Rome than formerly, had forced a young prelate to 
leave that city, to whom a husband had made over 
his wife by contract. 

Shortly afterwards, the prelate who was governor of 
Rome, was obliged to fly in order to escape the punish- 



190 SECRETS OF 

ment due to his dilapidations, the forgeries he had 
committed to a considerable amount, and his unbridled 
libertinism, backed by every species of violence. 

A third prelate, the relation of one Cardinal, and 
confidential agent in the affairs of another, was taken 
by some gendarmes, at the moment he was about to 
commit the most detestable of vices, under the colon- 
nade of a palace. 

The method now resorted to for the purpose of 
diminishing these disorders, is the same which was 
employed thirty years ago, with such little success. 

Under these circumstances, Ricci lost all the little 
authority which he formerly possessed in his diocess. 
The people abolished all his reforms, and restored the 
ancient splendor of the worship ; while the ministers 
of the Grand Duke endeavored to remove from Ricci 
his only partisans, the curates of his diocess, by depriv- 
ing them of their salaries. 

In February, 1790, the news of Joseph's death arrived. 
The certainty of the departure of Leopold awakened, 
on all hands, the spirit of revolt ; and the populace, in 
a state of sedition, clamored loudly against their Bishop. 
The canons, whose pretensions he had diminished, 
exclaimed against the illegality of his reforms, and 
gradually made all traces of them disappear. 

Leopold, however, did not yield. He renewed his 
orders for the observance of all that Ricci had done, 
and assured him of the protection of the Regency. 
But it was not probable that those who had opposed 
him while in power, should now obey him. The new 
regents sowed fresh disorders in Pistoia. They said 
that the popular feeling should be left to its natural 
course, and declared all interference of the Govern- 
ment on Church matters not only dangerous, but 
illegal. 

Matters were still worse when Leopold quitted Tus- 
cany. Pistoia then became the prey of the fanatics. 
The Regency, through crafty motives, exceeded the 
intentions of Leopold, in order to irritate the people. 
Leopold had ordered the suppression of all splendor 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 191 

in the Church ceremonies, which they interpreted to 
mean the abolition even of the cross and tapers at bu- 
rials. The priests were forced, by the clamors of the 
people, to replace these, and the Government seized 
that pretext for punishing them severely. This absurd 
and ill -timed rigor increased the general irritation. 

Count Louis Gianni, brother of the Minister of Tus- 
cany, thus wrote to Ricci from Rome, August, 1789 : 

" The French strike at the root of the evil, and give 
us a strong and prompt example for imitation. By 
depriving the clergy of their riches, they prepare them 
for the acquirement of knowledge and the reformation 
of morals ; the pensioning of monks and nuns will en- 
sure the destruction of the orders. Rome is silent, and 
will ever continue so, when opposed by vigorous and 
well digested measures. Would to God that other 
sovereigns would imitate so salutary a reform !" 

There soon was but one party, — that of the enemies 
of the Bishop. People began to talk of his approach- 
ing condemnation at Rome, and of the sentence he 
was to undergo — a sentence which would have caused 
him to be called before the Inquisition, and imprisoned 
in a fortress for the rest of his days. 

In order to hasten the explosion, Fabroni, the prin- 
cipal magistrate of Pistoia, caused one of the altars 
which had been rebuilt at the wish of the people, to be 
thrown down in the night. This measure was attribu- 
ted to Ricci, whose personal safety was now menaced 
by a furious populace, on account of an event of which 
the Bishop knew nothing. The Emperor consented, 
at that time, to the abolition of the greater part of the 
reforms which been effected during his reign. But this 
was not sufficient for his adversaries. They hated 
even the person of the reformer, and left no means un- 
tried to make him abandon his diocess, and deprive 
him of his title. 

At Prato a report had been circulated that the Bishop 
intended to make a pastoral visit, for no other purpose 
but that of the altar of the Holy Girdle. 

At Pistoia, similar means produced similar effects. 



192 SECRETS OF 

It was said that the Bishop wished to whiten the image 
of the Virgin of Humility, whose pretended miracles, 
closing- of the eyes, tears, &c, raised the public fanati- 
cism into fury. In April, 1790, the revolution broke 
out. The magistrate who had removed the altar was 
one of its directors, and so managed the ferment as to 
produce what was ardently desired, the departure of 
Ricci, who quitted Pistoia. 

Scarcely was he gone, when the people had, in a 
few days, abolished many years' work of reformation. 
The altars which had been demolished Avere rebuilt, 
the images were replaced and veiled, the abolished 
ceremonies were resumed, with all the pomp of the 
church festivals and ceremonies, the books recom- 
mended by Ricci were burnt, the monasteries re-estab- 
lished, &c. The few partisans of the Bishop who 
remained, were styled Scipionists, and pointed out to 
the popular fury, and forced to retire from the town. 
Every thing was replaced on the old footing. 

Ricci, on his retirement, preserved all his firmness, 
which was joined with resignation. His curates testi- 
fied their admiration of and regard for their Bishop, 
and informed him of the evils under which they were 
suffering. Some of them, who had recanted the prin- 
ciples they professed under Ricci, again confessed their 
belief in them, as publicly as they "had once retracted 
them. 

But the retreat of Ricci had not the effect of restoring 
order in the diocess of Pistoia. His adversaries were 
supported by the Regency and the local magistrates, 
who even refused him permission to publish a circular 
addressed to his curates, because he therein called them 
his brethren. This culpable condescension on the 
part of the Government to the wishes of the mob, 
speedily rendered the revolt general throughout Tus- 
cany. It broke out at Florence, June, 1790, and the 
people found no difficulty in procuring, with other 
privileges which they demanded, the abolition of all 
the ecclesiastical reforms. 

At that time, an English Roman Catholic lady, be- 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 193 

lieving Ricci's life in danger, offered him letters and 
money to enable him to seek protection elsewhere. 
He retired, however, to his villa when he received in- 
telligence that the Emperor Leopold had given up the 
Grand-duchy to his son Ferdinand, and that he had 
no longer any hope of suppressing the disorders. 

As soon as the new Grand Duke's arrival was an- 
nounced in Tuscany, the enemies of Ricci siezed the 
opportunity of demanding that Ricci should be deposed. 
But as the Emperor had signified his order for the re- 
installation of the Bishop before he should arrive in 
Tuscany with his son, the Regency thought this would 
be a good opportunity to raise anew the popular dis- 
contents, by publishing that fact. Instead of doing 
any thing to quell them, they sent orders to Ricci 
desiring him to return to Pistoia. 

The prelate replied, that before he decided on ex- 
posing himself to new affronts, the Government ought to 
punish the rebels, and calm the spirits of the populace; 
that his departure from his diocess had been forced, 
and that his return, in like manner, depended on their 
acts, and not on himself. 

Ricci had no wish to return to his diocess ; but he 
wished, if this were insisted on, that his residence there 
might at least be rendered j>ossible. He refused to do 
any thing that might dishonor himself, or consent to 
make any confession which should hurt his conscience; 
and though strongly pressed by Leopold, he remained, 
firm in his ancient opinions, and "continued to hold 
fast the doctrines which he had always professed." 

The Emperor reiterated his orders to the Regency 
in the most formal terms ; but no steps were taken to 
put an end to the troubles. The Government gave 
orders a second time, however, for Ricci to return to 
Pistoia, as Leopold and his son were daily expected ; 
and this order created a great effervescence throughout 
the whole of Ricci's diocess. 

The Emperor arrived in April, 1 791. The malcon- 
tents of Pistoia presented a request to his Majesty, that 
he would deliver them from their Bishop ; but they 
17 



194 SECRETS OF 

were very coolly received. The Bishop was received 
in a very different manner by Leopold, as well as by 
the Prince, who gave him a public audience, in which 
he assured him of his support. This encouraged his 
adherents in the two diocesses, who earnestly demanded 
the return of their pastor. But it was already deter- 
mined that the repose of the country should be 
purchased by the dismission of Ricci, and Leopold 
hinted this to him distinctly in their last interview. 

The moment for accomplishing his utter ruin was 
not yet come. His enemies, however, continued to 
keep up the cry against him, and repeated till they 
fancied they understood their own meaning, that Ricci 
did not believe in the Pope. 

The Grand Duke addressed himself to the persecuted 
prelate, and desired to know what it was his intention 
to do. Ricci left the decision of the question entirely 
to Ferdinand, and wrote to him to that effect. The 
Grand Duke sent him a form of resignation, which 
Ricci only modified so far as to render it canonical, 
and signed it the same day. 

When Ricci was about to leave his diocess for ever, 
all those who were not quite his enemies expressed 
their regret at losing him, either in person or by letter ; 
and this was the only consolation now left to him. In 
vain he retired from public life. While a public man, 
only his system and his enterprises had been attacked: 
now, ; the attacks were turned upon him personally. 
The first attempt made on him was in the shape of a 
long lawsuit, to deprive him of the pension which had 
been promised him. He refused, however, to plead the 
cause, and preferred renouncing the salary. 

Another source of regret was, to see his successor, 
Falchi, confirm all that had been perpetrated by the 
ignorant and turbulent persons of his diocess ; the 
banishment of all attached to his person or opinions ; 
and the desolation of the ecclesiastical patrimony raised 
for the payment of the clergy. 

The ex- Bishop, amidst all these events, led a retired 
life, forgetting the promises which had been held out 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 195 

to him by the Government, as a compensation for the 
loss of his bishopric, as easily as those promises had 
been forgotten. 

The death of the Emperor, in March, 1792, removed 
all restraint upon the enemies of Ricci, and especially 
from Falchi, who immediately invented a report, that 
the late diocesans of Ricci, whom Falchi had banished, 
had kept up a correspondence with their late Bishop, 
on the best means of poisoning Falchi ; and he drew 
up an absurd declaration, which only published to the 
world the folly of his atrocious suspicions. 

The Court of Rome now determined to interfere in 
these persecutions of Ricci, especially when it discover- 
ed that the Synod of Pistoia had served as a model for 
the civil constitution of the clergy, recommended by 
the French Constituent Assembly. Pius YI. began by 
fulminating the most outrageous declarations against 
the French. Afterwards he attacked the Bishop of 
Pistoia ; and it was determined, at one time, to cite 
Ricci before the Papal Court. The success of the 
French arms, however, and the indignation they felt 
at the interference of the Pope,, stopped this for a time. 

Of the extravagancies and horrors then perpetrated 
at Rome, Ricci received the following account : 

" The principal efforts were directed against the 
Ghetto, the quarter of the Jews, whose pillage had 
been promised to the Roman mob, as a reward for 
the murder of the Republicans, and whom fanaticism 
held forth to the blood-thirsty Catholics as the enemies 
of their God. M. Y. informs us, that it required all the 
efforts of several thousands of soldiers to prevent all 
Jews, who had shut themselves up in their houses, 
from being burnt to death. The Romans demanded, 
with loud cries, permission to "burn them in honor of 
Peter and Paul, of religion and his Holiness :" the 
shouts of hatred and death to the French were min- 
gled with these transports of ferocious devotion. 
" The outcries commenced in the midst of gangs of 
barbers and postilions, among whom were also some 
Abbes of respectable families. To satisfy the people, 



196 SECRETS OF 

Pius VI. subjected the Jews again to all the restrictions, 
duties, penalties, exactions, and to the distinguishing 
and infamous marks to which Pius V. had condemned 
them, and which the progress of civilization, of know- 
ledge, of justice, and of humanity, had abolished." 

Ricci now resolved to live altogether in private, in 
order to avoid giving his enemies any pretences for 
farther persecution. His buildings and his occupations 
were devoted to the benefit of the poor ; and while he 
employed himself in furthering the welfare of his fel- 
low creatures, he could not help being grieved at the 
conduct of those whose duty it was to meliorate their 
condition, instead of rendering it more perilous and 
painful. 

It was in this light that he regarded the conduct of 
the Roman Court, which was then preaching up a 
crusade against the French, and inflaming the people 
by noisy and turbulent missions. This produced the 
massacre of Basseville, and the popular tumult which 
was excited by the priests, who determined, "in the 
name of the Virgin, the Apostles, and the Pope," to 
murder all the French, and burn all the Jews who 
were to be found in Rome. Such infamous policy as 
this only rendered the situation of the Pope more criti- 
cal, and tended to hasten the fall of the Papal throne. 

While the French conquests were threatening the 
temporal monarchy of the Pope, the Spanish ministry 
was menacing its spiritual despotism, by announcing 
the publication of the Acts of the Council of Pistoia. 

" The reprinting of the Synod of Pistoia, which was 
about to be published in Spain, has decided the issuing 
of the brief, Auctoretn Fidei, in order to prevent it. 
The non-publication of the acts of Ricci's synod was 
in consequence of the fears with which Rome still in- 
spired Spain at that period. The germs, however, of a 
reform, similar to the one effected by the Grand Duke 
Leopold, did not on that account spring up the less ; 
and, when the change of circumstances had operated 
a total revolution in ideas, when it had emboldened 
the old Governments of Europe by humbling the 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 197 

Court of Rome, their ancient enemy, the courage of 
the Spanish bishops appeared to revive, the Minister 
resumed his former plans, and the Concordat he was 
then desirous of concluding, seemed to be entirely con- 
formable to the principles of modern canonists. The 
Pope trembled, and the Jansenists mutually communi- 
cated their hopes." 

" It consoles me to see that good principles begin to 
find their way into Spain, where several bishops think 
of reforming many abuses." 

" It is not the Synod of Pistoia which raises its voice, 
but men who are at length aroused from their profound 
sleep, lashed by the tyrannical despotism of the cursed 
Babylon, Rome ! I hope that the synod thus severely 
treated, will become the model for this portion of Spa- 
nish Catholicism." 

" The arrival at Rome of the Spanish ministers, 
causes as much alarm there, as, a short time ago, did 
the approach of the French army. The latter, at the 
worst, only exacted a temporary contribution. The 
former threaten the fixed funds and revenues from 
which that court draws wherewithal to support its 
luxury and splendor." 

The Papal Court, as usual, tried to operate a diver- 
sion in its favor, by ordaining a final examination of 
the Council of Pistoia, intending to issue a formal con- 
demnation of it. 

Accordingly, in April, 1794, Ricci received an inti- 
mation from Rome, that the Pope would be graciously 
pleased to hear a defence of his synod, if he should 
appear at Rome before the Bull was issued against 
him. This letter Ricci communicated to Ferdinand, 
representing that the Pope had violated his promise 
towards Leopold ; but Ferdinand, who was unwilling 
to give up Ricci on the one hand, and on the other 
dreaded the vengeance of Rome, recommended Ricci 
to refuse going to Rome, on the ground of his ill health. 
He was enjoined to declare his devotion to the Pope, 
and to insinuate that it was surely unnecessarv for his 
17* 



1&9 SECRETS OP 

Holiness to occupy himself with the acts of a synod, 
which were now no where in force. 

The object of the Spanish Government, in wishing 
to publish the Acts of the Synod of Pistoia, was, that 
they might serve as a basis to the reforms which it 
contemplated ; and this was the cause of the anxiety 
of the Papal Court for their suppression. With this 
view, the Pope caused his Nuncio to give the Spanish 
Court notice of the approaching condemnation of the 
assembly of Pistoia, and this sufficed to stop the pro- 
jected printing of them. Without replying farther to 
Ricci, the Pope issued, August, 1794, the famous Bull 
Auctoreni Fidel, of which none of the articles were 
communicated to Ricci, notwithstanding the Pope's 
promise to that effect, given to Leopold. Ricci, who 
had received no notice of his own condemnation, was 
resolved not to reply to what he was not supposed to 
know. Ferdinand approved of his conduct, and the 
Bull was forbidden to be sold or published in any of 
the Tuscan States, though the Pope's Nuncio contrived 
to circulate it surreptitiously among the people. 

The Bull did. not, however, produce all the effects 
which the Papal Court expected. It was suppressed 
at Naples, Turin, Venice, Milan, in Spain, Portugal, 
and France ; and even at Rome it was despised. 

" At Rome, this affair, the condemnation of the Sy- 
nod of Pistoia by the Bull Auctorem, is spoken of still 
less than at Florence ; that is to say, it is not spoken 
of at all." 

But Rome, though deprived of the triumph she ex- 
pected, contrived, by her intrigues, to excite against 
Ricci the envy and hatred of "all his old colleagues, 
particularly Falchi ; and however retired the ex-bishop 
lived, he could not but feel the effects of them. The 
people dispersed when he mounted the altar, even his 
confessor refused him absolution, and he was very near 
passing for one of the most dangerous heretics. 

It was at that time sufficient to bear the name of 
Jansenist, to be overwhelmed with all the implacable 
hatred of Rome, which saw in the Jansenists its most 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 199 

dangerous enemies ; and to be exposed to all the per- 
secutions and vexations which fanatics, bigots, fools, 
and hypocrites are capable of inflicting. The success 
of the French revolution, which was regarded as the 
completion of Jansenism, whilst both of them were but 
the result of the greater or less extension of knowledge, 
had rendered this religious furor much more ardent 
than it had been before this epoch. 

Sciarelli wrote from Colle, September, 1794 : 
" I find several propositions condemned, which pre- 
viously to this Bull my limited understanding had con- 
sidered Catholic ones. The Bishop of Pistoia and his 
followers condemned the propositions condemned by 
the Roman Court, in the very sense of the Bull — a sense 
which never had been either theirs, or that of the dio- 
cesan synod. Did not those sectaries themselves, like 
the primitive Jansenists, know what they believed, or 
what they ought to believe 1 Or rather, did their greater 
or less degree of faith depend, not upon their more or 
less share of piety or knowledge, but upon the greater 
or less strength of their character for resisting the 
caresses and the menaces of the Court of Rome ?" 

Camillo Albergotti Pezzoni wrote from Arezzo, Sep- 
tember, 1794: 

" Trie mania for universal dominion always renders 
the Court of Rome more and more obstinate in the pro- 
fession of her pernicious, lax and Loiolistical maxims; 
puffed up with papal infallibility, she declares war 
against the defenders of the wholesome doctrine of the 
Church, which is that of Augustin. In the present 
situation of Europe, the Pope excites pity, when he is 
seen hurling forth decrees of condemnation one after 
another, which wound the sovereign authority. He 
speaks of the Bull Auctorem, and guarantees maxims 
of laxity. This is the work of the Bolegni, Cuccagni, 
Marchetti, Zaccharia, &c. This slow surprise made 
upon the Pope by the shameless Molinists, against the 
Augustinian doctrine, is a fresh infallible argument of 
the fallibility of his Holiness." 

The Abbe D. sent Ricci the decree of the Inquisition 



200 SECRETS OF 

of Genoa, printed at Genoa, and bearing the following 
date : Ex edibus S. Inquisitionis Genua?, die 19 Sep- 
tembris, 1794, from the Palace of the Holy Inquisition 
of Genoa, 19th Sept. 1794. That decree was directed 
against the acts of the Synod of Pistoia, which had 
been proscribed, as it was expressed by the Pontifical 
Bull. The Abbe adds to this document, so remarka- 
ble for the period, the copy of a letter written by Fra 
Benedetto, brother Benedict Solari, Bishop of Noli, to 
the Senate of Genoa, to disprove and combat the said 
decree, and the condemnation of the acts of the Coun- 
cil of Pistoia, which he declared he would not receive. 

In the mean time, the influence of the French was 
daily more and more felt in Italy, by means of the 
Republican arms. 

It was in Italy as in Spain. The new opinions, 
equally favorable to the governments and the national 
clergy, no longer finding the same resistance on the 
part of Rome, which was reduced to defend its own 
existence, were rapidly propagated, and received with 
welcome, especially by those who had hitherto been 
denominated the lower clergy. The French Consti- 
tutionalists seconded with all their energy this moral 
revolution, by disseminating their opinions and max- 
ims, in proportion as they extended their communica- 
tions, with their correspondence, the only method of 
at length rendering their Church, if not more respect- 
able in the opinion of the Roman court, at least more 
formidable, which" produced the same results. 

The character of cannibals had been generally 
given to the French in Italy, by all the weak and timid 
Governments, who hoped to inspire the people with 
the courage of despair against pretended kinds of 
monsters whom they had held up as objects of terror 
in the tales of the nursery. The Papal Government 
particularly distinguished itself by those puerile follies. 
It caused it to be reported throughout all its States, 
that the French Republicans were impious men, and 
barbarians ; that they married several wives, .and 
adored several gods, amongst others the idol called 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 201 

the Tree of Liberty ; that they violated women and 
young girls, and devoured children. This is asserted 
in a pamphlet published by Annibal Mario tti, who, 
upon the entrance of the brigands of Arezzo into Pe- 
rugia, was arrested, for having refuted these absurd 
Papal calumnies. He was one of the twenty individ- 
uals detained for Jacobinism, whom the regency of 
Perugia selected from among a thousand victims 
which crowded their prison, and whom it granted to 
the Aretins, who had only asked for ten, to grace their 
triumphal return to Arezzo. 

As the civil constitution of the French clergy had 
been modelled upon the reforms of Leopold, it was 
neither judged proper to condemn them at Florence, 
nor to persecute their partisans. Ricci, therefore, 
thought he might now come and inhabit the capital. 

The Court of Rome seemed driven to its fate by a 
kind of insanity. It issued new Bulls against the 
French Directory more furious than the first. Another 
method it adopted was, to excite the mob, by the exhi- 
bition of pretended miracles, to renew the Sicilian 
Vespers throughout Italy. The shutting and opening 
of the eyes of the Madonnas in the churches and streets 
were tricks principally resorted to, and were interpreted 
by the priests as irrefragable proof of the victory 
which the soldiers of the Roman Court would infallibly 
gain over the troops of the Republic. 

We shall notice the miracle of the famous Madonna 
of Ancona. From a work published a few years ago, 
we can see the spirit of those who governed at the 
period connected with this history, and the nature of 
that which they are endeavoring to establish in the 
present day. This work is entitled : — " A moral and 
historical picture of the invasion of Italy in 1796, and 
of the miraculous and simultaneous opening of the 
eyes of the holy image of the most blessed Maria, 
reverenced in the Cathedral of Ancona : Assisi, 1820 : 
With license." 

The author is the Abbe Vincent Albertini, professor 
of eloquence at Fermo. After his portrait, which is 



202 SECRETS OF 

immediately followed by that of the Madonna, is the 
author's Dedication to the most blessed Virgin. Then 
comes the introduction. "Modern policy, it is said, is 
wholly occupied with the most moderate plans and 
systems, with the most salutary amnesties, and with a 
most sincere and unreserved oblivion of the past, with 
the conviction that this will be found not a momentary, 
but a lasting panacea for all the evils which have so 
long afflicted Europe." 

Albertini commences his subject by a long disserta- 
tion upon the eyes so full of tenderness of the Vir- 
gin. " Hitherto nothing had been so common as to see 
those eyes turn towards us, but then it was only from 
the summit of the Heaven where she dwells." It was 
for Ancona that the rare happiness was reserved of 
possessing the first image of the Virgin which visibly 
opened and shut eyes painted upon the cloth, and this 
at a time when the presence of the French kept up the 
violent agitation of men's minds. 

He attributes that agitation, which he calls a con- 
vulsion, to " the abominable race of anti-social misan- 
thropes, self-styled philosophic regenerators ;" and 
maintains that history will confound them with the 
Ravaillacs, the Cromwells, the Mirabeaus, the Marats, 
and the Robespierres. 

He speaks of the miracle of Ancona, which look 
place June, 1796; at the very time when the news, 
which had been spread about, of the defeat of the 
French in Germany and Upper Italy, had made the 
subjects of his Holiness believe that all that was want- 
ed to effect a complete riddance of the presence of the 
Republicans was a small quantity of popular fanaticism, 
very easy to be aroused by means of some pretended 
prodigies. " The angels," says the author, " who, 
upon their heavenly throne, worship with profound 
veneration their mighty sovereign — the angels, whose 
countenances we are not permitted to behold, envy, in 
some degree, your lot." 

All the inhabitants of Ancona flocked to this image 
of the miraculous Virgin, and manifested the most 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 203 

sincere signs of penitence, joy, and devotion. Cardinal 
Ranuzzi showed himself among- the foremost. 

There was a plausible motive for the Virgin per- 
forming her miracle at Ancona, in preference to any- 
other place ; which Albertini thus explains : — 

" Ancona, placed in the centre of Italy, is a sea-port; 
vessels might, therefore, carry in a short time the news 
of this miracle from the Adriatic Gulf to the most 
distant nations of the two hemispheres." Our author 
assures us that Jesus Christ conceived the first idea of 
this anti-republican miracle ; and spake to his Mother 
in the following strange manner : " Go, O conciliating 
and mediating between God and man, whom thou hast 
conquered ! In thee have I placed the seat of my 
power. By thy means I grant the favors asked at my 
hands. As thou gavest to me the essence of man, so 
will I give to thee that of God, my omnipotence, with 
which thou canst assist all who recommend themselves 
to thee !" 

Albertini desires, he says, not the death, but the con- 
version of the sinner. He would even have wished 
that the Emperor Julian, whom Christian historians 
have named the Apostate, and whom he calls the im^ 
pious iconoclast, could have seen only once the miracle 
which the most noble city of Ancona enjoyed for seve-* 
ral months together. 

The famous restoration of the absolute Governments, 
which is also a miracle, could not be passed over in 
silence by the historian of the miraculous image. 
" All the Italian princes, with the exception of the 
overthrown Republics, are stupified, as after a long 
sleep, in seeing themselves reinstated in their feudal 
dominions, — an event which no human power could 
have calculated." 

Then follows the history of the miraculous image 
placed in a magnificent chapel of Cyriac at Ancona : 

" So unheard-of a prodigy was attested by more than 
eighty thousand ocular witnesses, and by legal inqui- 
ries. A true account of it was published, by order of 
Cardinal Ranuzzi. Besides this, the deputy Betti made 



204 SECRETS OF 

it a duty to transmit this fact to posterity, by means of 
an inscription engraven upon stone, and which, for the 
purpose of preserving the recollection of it for ever, 
was placed in the cathedral. 

" In November, 1796, was finished the proces verbal 
which had been drawn up of the proofs of this miracle, 
under the strictest regulations. 

" The Pope, by his brief of November, had just 
instituted a pious brotherhood in honor of this image, 
under the name of the Sons and Daughters of Maria. 
After this miracle, it was found impossible to close the 
church for twelve successive nights, so great was the 
concourse of people attracted by the prodigy." 

"In July, three painters, the Vicar Pacifici, the 
notary Francois Vallaca, and the attorney Bonavia, 
accompanied by several witnesses taken from the 
canons, by many noblemen and some foreigners, went 
to examine the maimer in which the holy image was 
painted, in order to ascertain with certainty whether 
some imposture, the work of human malice, had not 
been introduced by means of the change of colors, &c. 
Scarcely had they taken off the glass which covered 
it, when the image opened its ever blessed eyes twice 
successively, to a greater extent than it had ever be- 
fore done, and then closed them again, as a still farther 
proof of the truth of the first miracle." 

It is not exactly clear whence arose the incredulity 
of the examining commissioners, since at the time of 
the solelmn procession of June, the day after the mira- 
cle, the Virgin did nothing but open, shut, and turn 
her eyes on all sides, to the great delight of the inhabit- 
ants, who wept tears of joy. In June 1800, and Au- 
gust, 1817, this same procession took place, by way of 
thanksgiving ; but the Virgin did not vouchsafe to open 
her eyes. It appears she had seen enough ! 

Pius VII. crowned the miraculous image in May, 
1814, an event which was commemorated by an in- 
scription. He fixed its anniversary on the second Sun- 
day of the same month, and attached to it the benefit 
of a plenary indulgence. Albertini says, that it would 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 205 

require too much time to make a catalogue of the 
plenary and partial indulgences granted by the Popes 
Pius VI. and Pius VII., in favor of this image. 

Bonaparte, who arrived at Ancona a short time after 
the pretended miracle had been worked, caused the 
miraculous image to be brought by the canons of the 
Cathedral to the Palace Trionfi, where he was lodged ; 
and to be stripped of all its rich ornaments and jewels, 
which he gave over into the hand of the President of 
the Municipality, in aid of the poorest hospital in the 
city. The lawyer Bonavia, a partisan of the French, 
then related to the General all that had taken place, 
and corroborated his account by the testimony of one 
hundred thousand persons, all present at the perform- 
ance of the miracle. Bonaparte took the image, and 
looked at it with the greatest attention for a long time. 

" It cannot be precisely asserted," says Albertini, 
" that the Virgin opened her eyes in his presence, but 
one cannot help at least supposing so." That great 
man continued looking at the image steadfastly, and 
suddenly was seen to change color. He also made 
gestures indicative of trouble and surprise. " He fin- 
ished by restoring to it all its jewels and ornaments — 
to the great detriment of the hospitals and the poor, 
whom this new miracle again plunged into misery — 
and had it replaced upon its accustomed altar, where, 
for greater awe, he ordered it to be covered with a 
veil." 

The Memoirs of Antommarchi prove to us, that in 
his last moments, the Emperor spoke with very little 
reverence of the Italian Madonnas. 

" The miracle was afterwards attested by persons of 
all classes, by rich and poor, by magistrates and pri- 
vate citizens, by ecclesiastics and laymen, by the devout 
and the incredulous, by Catholics and Protestants, by 
Infidels and Jews, by all nations, by all climes, by all 
ranks, as is stated in the certificate which is preserved 
among the archives of the venerable church of Ancona." 
The incredulous, Protestants, Turks, and Jews, as lit- 
tle expected to figure among the witnesses of a miracle, 
18 



2U6 SECRETS OF 

operated by and for the profit of the Court of Rome, as 
Napoleon himself. 

In September, the miracle continuing- to be regularly 
shown to the curious, the Emperor of Germany caused 
a solemn procession to be made, offered a rich gift in 
wax-lights, and appropriated a large sum of money for 
the celebration of masses. Amelia, Duchess of Parma, 
embroidered with her own hands some valuable tissues, 
and sent them to the Holy Virgin. 

" The miracles of the images of Ancona, Rome, 
Civita Vecchia, Maurata, and Ascoli, occupy every 
person's attention to such a degree, that the French are 
no longer spoken of." 

The wish to see prodigies naturally terminates in 
the belief of them, and the report of the Madonna 
miracles soon reached Florence. Some withered lilies, 
placed before an image of the Virgin, were found next 
day blown ; and the Archbishop Martini, thinking this 
a favorable occasion to give himself importance with 
the multitude, went in procession to transport the pre- 
tended miraculous image to the metropolitan church. 

From that time, the Archbishop Martini became the 
apologist for, and propagator of, all the miracles ; in 
which he reposed not the least faith .' but it was a 
certain method of keeping up the ignorance and su- 
perstition of the people, and of enabling him, by this 
means, to let loose their fanaticism, which it was very 
easy for him to direct according to his interests or de- 
sires of vengeance. 

Of two of these pretended miracles, we give the titles. 
It is remarkable that it was always before the entrance, 
or after the departure of the French troops, that the 
miracles took place. While Tuscany was in the pos- 
session of the Republicans, the laws of nature were 
carefully respected by the saints, and by the souls of 
the other world. 

1. '-'An apologetic letter respecting the apparition 
of a Spirit, which happened in the month of August, 
1800, near the Hills of Rosan, not far from the city of 
Florence, written by the curate of Villamagna, with 



FEMALE CONVENTS, 207 

the approbation of the Archbishop Antoine Martini. 
Florence, 1800, with licence." This was the spirit of 
a female peasant, who appeared, we are assured, in a 
meadow to a shepherdess to ask her for some paters 
and aves, which she said she was in want of, in order 
to get out of purgatory. As many as ten thousand 
persons at a time repaired to the spot to find the shep- 
herdess, who maintained that she had seen the spirit 

2. " A succinct account of the miraculous production 
of oil, which took place, or was discovered, May, 1806, 
in the monastery of Maria degli Angeli and Maria 
Maddalena de Pazzi, at the intercession of Maria Bar- 
tolommea Bagnesi, a Florentine virgin of the third 
order of Dominic, authentically confirmed by a decree 
of the Archiepiseopal Court of Florence, December, 
1806. Florence, 1807, with approbation." The eager 
devotion of the Florentines, who were all desirous of 
procuring the oil of the lamps of Bagnesi^ exhausted 
the convent. Santa Pazzi, its abbess, created seven 
barrels at a time. The Queen Regent of Etruria has- 
tened, at the first intelligence, and got herself anoint- 
ed. Martini guaranteed the miracle, and the faithful 
prostrated themselves. 

These unworthy means, however, did not succeed •• 
and Rome, theocratic as it was, found herself, after all 
her efforts, forced to become a democracy. Ricci sin- 
cerely lamented the fate of the Pope ; but not wishing 
to range himself with either party, he retired to his 
villa, occupying his leisure only with pious books, and 
in the composition of others, up to the time when the 
French took possession of Tuscany, March, 1799. 

Ricci, speaking of the changes which had taken 
place at Rome, recently become a democratic Republic, 
says, that he never doubted " that this great good, of 
which we are now spectators, would happen to the 
Church. ....... The opprobrious name of Court is at 

length abolished ; the haughty monarchy is now anni- 
hilated. Would to God that all the old despots of the 
Vatican lived contemporaries with Pius VI., because, 
chastised in their own pride, they might prepare them- 



208 SECRETS OF 

selves better than they have done for their passage into 
eternity !" 

He gives an account of the fanatical tumult of the 
Roman populace, especially that part of it on the other 
side of the Tiber, against the Republicans, to the cries 
of " Long live Marp, religion, and the Pope ."' Many 
lives were lost in it. " What most astonishes me is, 
that this revolt has been entirely the work of monks 
and priests. A Capuchin, the ringleader of rebels ! 
These are terms that fanaticism alone is capable of 
reconciling." 

In a pamphlet by Joseph Giusti, July, 1801, is the 
following picture of the situation of Tuscany : 

" The irruption of the barbarians brought along with 
it the triumph of ignorance, superstition, anarchy, and 
crime. The priests taught to cover every crime with 
the veil of religion. The vilest wretches planned the 
fatal plot, the object of which was the annihilation of 
religion and virtue : and a usurping Senate brought 
back into our country the dreadful time of Tiberius — 
nothing was witnessed but scenes of horror. 

" The most irreproachable men of all classes and 
conditions, honorable and peaceable citizens, virtuous 
patricians, upright magistrates, brave soldiers, respect- 
able ecclesiastics, all men of a superior talent, the glory 
of their country, and who in numberless instances had 
merited well of their country, perished wretchedly either 
by the blow of the assassin, or at the stake planted by 
fanaticism. Others were arbitrarily arrested and drag- 
ged before a tribunal of cannibals : there, without the 
least shadow of justice, without proofs against them, 
without the means of defence, they were subjected 
to the most infamous penalties, to the gallies, to im- 
prisonment iu fortresses, and to banishment. Others, 
finally, who had with the utmost difficulty and danger 
escaped from their ferocious persecutors, took refuge 
in foreign countries, there to lead a wandering and 
wretched life, carrying with them the cruel recollection 
of the tyranny of an iniquitous government, and of 
the ingratitude of their fellow citizens. Above thirty 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 209 

thousand families were victims of these proscriptions ; 
and Ferdinand saw with complacency, from the centre 
of Germany, the ruin, despair, and extermination of the 
best of his subjects. 

" All idea of morality was overturned ; the public in- 
struction was poisoned at its fountain-head, and every 
idea of humanity and justice was annihilated. Insur- 
rection, anarchy, and massacre, were openly preached 
by the ministers of the sanctuary, were represented as 
conscientious duties by a thousand inflammatory wri- 
ters, and were authorized and encouraged by the Go- 
vernment itself. 

"Such was the state of Tuscany, in October, 1800, 
on which day the approach of the Republicans forced 
the most notorious authors of these excesses, cowardly 
to take to flight, leaving Tuscany to be governed by 
their own sub-delegates, the only instructions given to 
them being, to endeavor as much as possible to keep 
up the system which they had themselves established. 

' Those creatures of a fugitive General and Regency 
— creatures, whose authority was contrary to all the 
rules of policy respected by the conqueror after the oc- 
cupation of Tuscany, continued to foment the popular 
fanaticism, and to prepare the country for a general 
rising. But French generosity was at length exhaust- 
ed, and it was resolved, if necessary, to join to the old 
governors three persons more worthy of confidence." 

After having seen the crimes of the insurgents of 
faith and legitimacy, it will be well to observe the 
solicitude of the Government to reward their horrible 
services. 

" Circular instruction to all the commissioners crea- 
ted by the decree, Motu 'propria, of February, 1800." 
The decree of last February declares, that his Royal 
Highness has established a commission, charged with 
examining the merit of the individuals who have, 
during the insurrection of the Aretines, or after they 
had exhibited this great example, given proofs either 
of military valor or of political prudence, by giving 
birth to, fomenting and exciting the rising against the 
18* 



210 SECRETS OF 

enemy in any of the provinces of the Grand Duchy. 
The said commission will draw up an account of the 
deeds which have rendered illustrious, during this pe- 
riod, not only the town of Arezzo, but also all the other 
towns, boroughs, and villages of Tuscany, pointing out 
the names of persons the most deserving of reward, as 
well as those who have lost their lives during that in- 
terval. 

Ricci happened to be at Florence at the time of the 
entrance of the French troops, and therefore could not 
retire to his villa, as the new Government had directed 
that no one should be allowed to leave the city, in or- 
der to prevent emigration. This compelled him to be 
a witness of the fanaticism of Leopold's Government. 
The insurrection of Arezzo was a grand event for that 
party. Religious enthusiasm made the rebels elect the 
■pretended miraculous Madonna their generalissimo ; 
and under her standard, they followed the Republican 
stragglers, whom these wandering hordes massacred 
without mercy, and plundered with safe consciences. 
The image of the Virgin urns the standard of assas- 
sination, and robbery ! 

The band directed their steps towards Florence, 
where Ricci's name was already at the head of a list 
of victims to the monks, the priests, and the grandees, 
formed before the arrival of the hordes of Arezzo. The 
Leopoldists were especially in danger ; and the insur- 
gents came twice to the villa of the prelate, where they 
hoped to find him. They failed, however, in their 
search at that place, but the unfortunate Bishop was 
arrested at his house in Florence, in July, 1799, and 
next day transferred to the prison da Basso, where the 
French prisoners were confined, and where they were 
treated by the Aretines with so much inhumanity, that 
the prelate, in their mutinies, often ran the risk of be- 
ing massacred. 

The Aretines had no sentiments of hatred towards 
Ricci, of whom they had perhaps never heard ; and 
he thought he might probably obtain his release by 
writing to the Archbishop of Florence and the Bishop 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 211 

of Fiesole, to explain his situation, appealing to them 
as one of their brethren. The dark counsellors of 
Martini advised the Archbishop to pay a visit to Ricci, 
and to try by threats, promises, or reproaches, to en- 
gage him to a recantation of his opinions, and thus to 
remove from him all that was left him — his honor. 

Martini followed this advice ; and after describing 
to Ricci the dangerous feeling in the public mind, he 
recommended him to accept the Bull Auctorem Fidei; 
and concluded by reproaching him with the sanction 
he had given to the civil constitution of the French 
clergy, &c. 

Ricci began to be intimidated, and asked counsel of 
Martini himself, who, seeing what might be made of 
the prisoner, paid him a second visit, in which, with 
extreme mildness, he urged the same arguments, which 
gained over the unfortunate prelate so far, as to lead 
him to consent to write a letter declaratory of his co- 
incidence with Martini's opinions. 

This document, however important to the defenders 
of the old abuses, was not regarded as strong enough. 
Martini took it upon him to say to Ricci in what it 
was deficient ; and the Bishop had the weakness not 
only to yield, but to request that Martini would correct 
the letter in his own way. After this was obtained, 
Martini refused to take any concern in RiccVs affairs : 
he even refused to send RiccVs letter to the Pope, and 
altogether ceased his visits to him ! The ex-Bishop 
was detained nearly a month at the fortress da Basso. 

The excesses committed by the Aretines had roused 
even the indignation of the Germans, for whose advan- 
tage they committed them. General Klenau ordered 
them to quit Florence, under the pretence that they 
were required to raise the siege of Perugia, which was 
still in the power of the French. But they liked better 
to pillage the Jews, and to remain in excellent garri- 
sons ; accordingly they said openly, that as they had 
fulfilled what they styled their glorious mission, they 
had no reason to march farther. They soon however 



212 SECRETS OP 

dissolved, as it was likely, from their want of disci- 
pline, they would. 

The commandant of the fort where Ricci was con- 
fined, finding no charge against him, ordered his liber- 
ation ; but the Senate of Tuscany seemed to have 
aroused all the fury of the brigands of Arezzo ; for 
when Ricci, after recovering from his prison malady, 
went to visit the Archbishop of Florence, the latter, 
after cruelly boasting of the absolute authority which 
had been granted him over the arrested ecclesiastics, 
told him that the people were not well pleased to see 
him at liberty, and recommended him to retire to any 
convent of the capital which he might choose. Ricci 
proposed to go to the Fathers of the Mission ; but they 
were cowardly enough to refuse him. He next chose 
the Convent of the Dominicans, at Mark. 

Here Ricci was treated exactly like a prisoner of the 
Inquisition. He had only a miserable cell allowed 
him; all the comforts of life were refused him; the 
monks fled from his presence, and he could scarcely 
obtain the privilege of saying mass in one of their 
private oratories. This was an inner chapel, which 
the Dominicans of Mark had caused to be magnificently 
constructed and embellished, in honor of Savonarola, 
close to the little rooms which had formerly been his 
cells. Over the entrance-door is still to be read this 
Latin inscription : " Has cellulas Ven. P. P. Hiero- 
nymus Savonarola, vir apostolicus, inhabitavit." — 
" These cells were inhabited by the apostolic Hierony- 
mns Savonarola." 

During his stay at the Convent of Mark, the Bishop 
of Pistoia made some extracts from the manuscripts 
which he found in the library, relative to that heretic 
saint ! 

Amongst others, is a letter written March, 1495, by 
the magistrates of the Republic of Florence, to Richard 
Becchi, its ambassador at the Court of Pope Alexan- 
der VI., to thank him for the pains he had taken to 
procure permission that Savonarola might continue to 
preach in their capital. Mention is therein made of 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 213 

"falsities and calumnies which envious and wicked 
men are continually inventing and disseminating 
abroad, respecting Brother Jerome Savonarola. Not 
only, add the magistrates, has this brother been 
attacked, but we ourselves have been strongly sus- 
pected, as you write us, of suffering Brother Jerome, in 
his sermons, to speak to us in no very honorable terms, 
and without any respect in public, of the Church, and 
of our Lord, the Pope. Wherefore it appears to us 
just, as it is necessary, to let you clearly understand, 
that Brother Savonarola, in his sermons, has never to 
this day overstepped the limits traced by propriety, and 
which a kind of tacit convention generally opposes to 
the boldness of preachers. This, however, does not 
prevent these orators from condemning vices in gene- 
ral, pointing out the errors of the great, and making 
sinners tremble, by a lively and seasonable description 
of the Divine punishments which threaten them. If 
Brother Jerome had, in the least degree, exceeded the 
limits of which we have just spoken, in all which con- 
cerns the sanctity of our Lord, we would not have 
permitted him on any account to have preached in 
future." 

In April of the same year, the magistrates wrote to 
the Neapolitan Cardinal, the patron of the order of 
Dominic, that they had so great a veneration for the 
Prior of Mark, Brother Savonarola, that they thought 
they could do no good thing, unless exhorted to it by 
that monk. " For the piety of this man is admirable, 
his life spotless, his doctrine excellent. But what is 
above all that can be said, a still rarer merit, and one 
which we equally acknowledge in him, is, that he is 
inspired by a Divine spirit. He has not only predicted 
the common and ordinary things which have hitherto 
happened to us, but has forewarned us, in his sermons, 
of the most extraordinary events, such as we could 
have least expected, long before they took place. It is 
impossible to express how useful his sermons are to us, 
as much for the salvation of our souls, as for the 
tranquillity of our Republic." 



214 SECRETE OF 

A third letter from the Florentine magistrates is 
addressed to Pope Alexander VI. himself, entreating 
him to allow Savonarola to reside among them. It is 
the most honorable testimony of the piety, learning, 
purity of morals, and holiness of life of Brother Jerome, 
and a refutation of the calumnies invented for his de- 
struction. This letter is dated September, 1495. 

Then follow the fragments of some letters from 
Anthony Magliabechi to Theophilus Spizelius, a Pro- 
testant minister of the Church of Augsburg: 

" With respect to the accusations against Savonarola, 
they are futile, and without the least foundation. As 
a man, as a Christian, as a monk, as a preacher, he was 
compelled to take part in public affairs ; for all was 
hastening on to ruin ; and not only were the morals 
much relaxed, but even atheism triumphed so auda- 
ciously, that many writings, whose sole object was to 
turn the Holy Scriptures into ridicule, were printed 
over and over again, such as the Sonnets of the Canon 
Pulci and others. Thousands of holy men have done 
the same thing, in times much less demanding their 
interference than those in which Savonarola lived. 

" To say that he was desirous of courting interest 
and favor, is one of the greatest falsehoods ever heard. 
Had he desired honors, he would have flattered the 
House of Medicis, and the Sovereign Pontiff Alexan- 
der VI., who had promised him, if he retracted, a car- 
dinal's hat. 

" The trial of Savonarola now in circulation, is falsi- 
fied and garbled. That was the reason why it was 
not read in Savonarola's presence — a circumstance 
which scandalized the people much, but in which his 
judges took not the least concern. I have made every 
possible effort to get a sight of the genuine trial, but 
always in vain. Patriarca, who was employed in the 
fiscal chamber, and who had all these documents in 
his trust, told me he had seen in some old memoirs, 
that this trial had been immediately taken away, and 
that the enemies of the monk had either torn it in 
pieces, or burnt it. They then published an interpo- 



EEMALE CONVENTS. 215 

lated and altered trial ; and in order to prevent their 
fraud from being discover ed, they destroyed the real 
one, in order to remove every possibility of comparing 
the two trials, and discovering their iniquity /" 

In the midst of the Bishop's sufferings, Pius VI. died. 
Martini advised Ricci to write to his successor; and 
one of the Dominicans engaged the Nuncio to visit 
him, in order to procure a dishonorable recantation of 
all his opinions. Ricci refused the Nuncio's inter- 
ference : the latter withdrew in anger. Martini was 
jealous of the Nuncio, and refused any longer to inter- 
est himself in the fate of his colleague. 

The health of Ricci was visibly injured, owing to 
the suspense in which he was held, and the perfidy of 
his pretended friends. He also heard that it was at 
the Archbishop's instigation that the Dominicans re- 
fused to allow him to officiate in their Church, thus 
authorizing the Florentines to regard him as a danger- 
ous heretic, a person to be shunned. However, he 
bore all patiently, and passed the greater part of his 
time in the library or his cloister, in perusing the works 
of those fathers who most coincided with his opinions. 

Under these circumstances, instead of receiving any 
assistance or consolation from his family, he was per- 
secuted even by his own brother, the Senator Ricci, 
who finally succeeded in suspending the payment of 
the pension assigned to him by the Grand-ducal 
Government, till after the decision of his trial. All 
these vexations had such an effect on the spirits of 
Ricci, that his physicians, dreading a long and danger- 
ous malady, applied to the Senate for permission 
to have Ricci transported to his country-house, as 
good air and quiet were the only remedies for his 
disorder. 

The Senate declared that they had never given 
any orders for the arrest of Ricci. The physicians 
then addressed themselves to the Archbishop, who had 
always pleaded orders from Government to that effect; 
but he referred them again to the Senate, as Ricci's 
affair regarded a prisoner accused of revolutionary 



216 SECRETS OF 

opinions. This was the first time such an accusation 
had been made ; for Martini had assured the Bishop, 
when detained at Basso, that he was only suspected of 
erroneous opinions on religion. 

But the difficulties made by Martini to Ricci's en- 
largement, were not the only ones he had to encoun- 
ter ; for his brother required that, before allowing him 
to quit Mark, all the examinations should be gone 
through of all the persons suspected, about 32,000, in 
order to be sure that the Bishop was not implicated 
with some of them. This delay must have occasioned 
the death of Ricci, had not some senators, less cruel, 
taken advantage of the temporary absence of Martini, 
to set the Bishop at liberty on the following condi- 
tions, and allow him to return to his villa : — 

That he should leave the convent in the night.- — 
That he should only stay a few hours at his house at 
Florence. — That he should not keep up any corres- 
pondence whatever. — That he should promise to yield 
himself prisoner, whenever he should be required by 
the Senate. 

The extensive correspondence of Ricci would natur- 
ally alarm the tyrants, who could only work in that 
darkness to which they are indebted for their existence. 

The following singular letters bear testimony to the 
truth of what we advance. 

Isacarus, a Bethlemite, wrote to Ricci from Rome, 
March, 1798. 

He requests Ricci's answers to Marchetti's Annota- 
tions Pacifiqnes. He then complains of the persecu- 
tions to which he is himself exposed at Rome, from 
priests who were there called good Christians, but who 
were in reality only Freethinkers, espr its forts. 

From Caietan Victorin de Faria, a Paulist monk, at 
Lisbon ; 1798. Faira was a Brahmin, and was con- 
verted to Catholicism. His wife being dead, he and 
his two sons entered into the priesthood at Genoa ; his 
third son was made Deacon. All four went over to 
Lisbon, where they lived in the convent of the 
Paulists. 



FEMALE CONVENTS, 217 

" The regular clergy in India," says he, " have be- 
come, towards the end of the 18th century, what the 
bonzes were at Japan : the nuns were the disciples of 
Diana, and their nunneries seraglios for the monks; as 
I have proved to be the case in Lisbon, by facts which 
I have produced respecting those nuns, who were more 
often in the family-way than the common women." 

" The Jesuits made themselves Brachmans in the 
Indies, in order to enjoy the privileges of that caste, 
whose idolatrous rites and superstitious practices they 
had also adopted." He then explains in what consist- 
ed the principal privileges which the religious mem- 
bers of that society had acquired by this means ; 
namely, "of having free ingress to all the Indian 
Courts ; of being never put to death for any crime 
whatever ; and of enjoying the favors of every wo- 
man who pleased them, it being commonly received, 
that a Brachman priest sanctifies the woman whom 
he honors with his attentions." The Paulist monk 
speaks from experience, for he had himself been a 
Brachman before embracing the Christian religion. 

Ricci had scarcely arrived in the country when he 
recovered his health. He wrote to Martini, who replied 
only by a few lines, requiring a recantation. Ricci 
replied, that he was still of the same opinion he had 
expressed to him and in the letter he had written to 
the Pope ; and concluded by professing the purity of 
his intention in all his reforms, and expressing his 
regret if they should have been premature or the cause 
of scandal. 

Martini replied, that he had not had time to read 
the long letter of Ricci, but urged him to write to the 
new Pope. Ricci was grieved at the way in which 
he was treated by his former colleague, but promised 
to follow his advice as soon as the new Pontiff should 
be elected. 

After this, for several months he continued an iso- 
lated being, shunned by every one, and persecuted by 
his enemies, who wished to deny him even the conso- 
lation of performing his devotions in the church. This 
19 



218 SECRETS OF 

tyranny lasted a year; and then they began to prepare 
false documents, and bribe false witnesses, to support 
their accusations and justify their ill-treatment of Ricci, 
on his approaching trial at Florence. The Archbishop 
wished to have Ricci condemned as a person guilty of 
holding antimonarchical opinions ; but if this should 
fail as was likely, he reserved to himself the right of 
sending him to Rome to be punished by his natural 
enemies. On his trial, 'impunity was promised to the 
guilty of all descriptions who should make any accu- 
sation against Ricci! He was to be found guilty, in 
some way or other ; but in spite of these infamous and 
illegal proceedings, the Chancellor was obliged to 
acknowledge that there was no crime proved against 
R. His persecutors were not yet satisfied : he was not 
yet set at liberty ; for they adjourned the trial in order 
that their victim might not escape them ; and this proof 
of their malignity gave a shock both to the health and 
mind of Ricci, which he did not recover for the remain- 
ing ten years of his life. 

The wretched intrigues employed to disturb the last 
moments of Abbe Mengoni, who spontaneously and 
publicly declared his orthodoxy and unalterable attach- 
ment to the unity of the Church, proves to demonstra- 
tion that the spirit of the Court of Rome and its agents, 
is the same in all times and in all places, and that it 
avails itself of the most trifling circumstances, as well 
as of the most important events, to extend the fatal 
influence of that ignorance and fanaticism, upon which 
is founded the Papal power. 

Canon Joseph Mancini, now Bishop of Massa, and 
at that time Vicar-general of the Archbishop of Flo- 
rence, commissioned a priest named Mini, a speculat- 
ing theologian, to avail himself of the weakness of the 
sick man in order to obtain a recantation. 

The formula he was required to sign, contained the 
acceptation of all that had been determined upon at the 
Council of Trent ; of all that the Church had decided 
upon respecting grace and free will ; the Bulls of Pius 
V., Gregory XIII., Urban VIII., Alexander VII., &c, 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 219 

and especially those known by the names of Unigeni- 
ius super Soliditate and Auctorem Fidei ; the confes- 
sion of the belief that the Pope has the precedency in 
honor and jurisdiction over all the Church, and that 
the Roman Church is the mother and mistress of all 
the others ; finally, the condemnation of the errors of 
the incredulous and licentious in matters of religion, 
in the same manner as they are condemned by the 
Church, as well as that of the propositions anathema- 
tized by the said Bulls, in the same plain and natural 
sense as has hitherto dictated anathemas of the Sove- 
reign Pontiffs. 

Abbe Mengoni resisted ; and having learnt, by the 
reports spread among the people at the instigation of 
his vindictive colleague, that he was made to pass for 
an excommunicated person, to whom the Archbishop 
even intended to deny the administration of the viati- 
cum, he wrote to that same Archbishop, October, 1815, 
and said, that he not only had always been, and still 
was a good Catholic, but that his most earnest wish 
was to die in the communion of the faithful, in which 
he had always lived. 

He wrote the same day to the Vicar Mancini, and 
asked him "if he required him to disgrace himself by 
a falsehood, by confessing himself guilty of a crime, 
of which indeed he was accused, but which he was 
convinced he had not committed : a circumstance 
which no one could know better than himself." 

Morali, the then existing Archbishop, insisted upon 
obtaining the required retractation, which it was hoped 
might be coupled with that of Bishop Ricci, in order 
to complete the victory gained by the Court of Rome. 
Seeing, at length, that all his efforts were useless, he 
dared not take farther advantage of the restoration of 
legitimacy in his country. The Abbe Mengoni re- 
ceived the viaticum from the hands of his confessor, 
the Curate of Gervais. The Prior of Marco Vecchio 
alleged many frivolous excuses to avoid performing 
this office, and requested the curate to be his substi- 
tute on the occasion. 



$20 SECRETS OF 

Another retractation took place ; that of an Abbe 
Panieri, a canon of the cathedral of Pistoia, who con- 
demned and reproved the doctrine which he had taught 
under Ricci, concerning the sacrament of marriage 
and the dispensations from ecclesiastical hindrances. 

This retractation, written by the canon's own hand, 
March, 1S20, was addressed by him with a letter to 
Marchetti d'Empoli, the apologist for the miracles at 
the close of the last century, which were both imme- 
diately printed at Rome, by De Romains, with permis- 
sion of the higher powers ; and several hundred copies 
were sent to Florence. It did not, however, succeed 
in stirring up ancient feuds for a long time forgotten. 
The Government, aware of its turbulent intentions, 
ordered the packet to be seized on the frontiers, and 
committed to the flames. 

As soon as he heard of the election of Pius VII. as 
Pope, Ricci, who knew the moderation of his disposi- 
tion as Cardinal, conceived some hope of a termination 
to his sufferings. He wrote a letter to the Pontiff, in 
which he expressed his entire submission to the Apos- 
tolic Chair, and the Pope occupying it, and justified 
his opinions as orthodox. His letter was dated March, 
1800. 

Gonsalvi, the Pro-secretary of State, acknowledged 
the receipt of this letter, but made no reply to its con- 
tents. The answer was deferred for ten whole months, 
— an interval which was not unemployed by the ene- 
mies of the Tuscan prelate, who did every thing in 
their power to render Ricci odious to the new Pope. 
The Florentine Senate was equally active in prepar- 
ing contradictory evidence of all kinds against Ricci ; 
and the Nuncio, thinking the opportunity favorable, in- 
sisted that the Government should send him to Rome. 
It was precisely at this time, that the " menacing letter" 
of Gonsalvi arrived. It required of Ricci a recanta- 
tion of his errors, and those of his Synod — his ac- 
knowledgment of the Bull Auctorem Fidei — of pro- 
found submission to the Pope, and a confession of his 
repentance. The Nuncio's secretary, who delivered 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 221 

the letter, was to add to it verbally, that the contents 
were known to the Tuscan Regency, who urged the 
ex-Bishop to comply with its demands, under pain of 
being given up to the Nuncio, and shut up for life in 
the Castle of Angelo. 

Ricci was unwilling to declare all the acts of his 
episcopacy improper, seeing that they had all been 
sanctioned by the Grand Duke. He communicated 
his scruples to the Government, but no answer was 
ever given ; so that he must have been betrayed into 
the snare laid for him, had not the victorious French 
re-entered Italy, and saved him from the danger. This 
was the more imminent, as Ricci was now rather dis- 
posed to diminish the concessions he had made, than 
to make others. 

Eleven days before the French entered Florence, he 
received a copy of the political accusations made 
against him : to which he replied immediately by a 
letter, in which he protested his attachment to his 
Prince, and complained of the sufferings he had en- 
dured so long. 

On the entrance of the French into Florence, Octo- 
ber, 1800, all the persecutors fled, together with the 
Pontifical Nuncio, who was at their head. That 
emissary had been charged to extort from Ricci, with 
the aid of the Tuscan Government, a dishonorable re- 
cantation of all his acts and opinions ; but times had 
now changed, and fear of the victorious French led 
him to write a very mild letter to Ricci, requesting 
merely a simple assurance of his submission to the 
Pope. This he immediately complied with, adding his 
acknowledgments of entire accordance with the Roman 
Church in matters of faith, and his abhorrence of 
schism. He occupied his time during his respite from 
persecution, in preparing a reply to the Bull Auctorem 
Fidel, in which he proved, that this Bull only con- 
demns what was condemned by the Synod of Pistoia. 

The weak Austrian Government of four was, about 
that time, replaced by a French triumvirate ; who, as 
soon as they discovered the 32,000 processes and accu- 
19* 



222 SECRETS OF 

sations, condemned them to be publicly burnt. Ricci's 
was sent to him, and " from it," says he, " I discovered 
that I had been detained at Mark's by means of the 
Archbishop of Florence. Nihil tarn occultum quod non 
revelabitur. — Nothing is so hidden that it shall not be 
revealed /" The French Government expressed the 
utmost esteem for the person of Ricci, and regrets for 
the unworthy persecutions of which he had been the 
victim. Ricci demanded an acknowledgment of the 
falsehood of the accusations against him, which the 
Secretary of the Crown could not refuse. He then re- 
tired to his villa, where he employed himself in his 
usual occupations, with country amusements, and in 
the improvement both of the face of the country, and 
the indigent laborers on his land. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Louis I., King- of Etruria. — Treaty with the Pope for Ricci. — Their 
Reconciliation. 

Ricci had formed the best opinion of Louis I. of 
Etruria ; but that King, entirely governed by his 
courtiers, Ventura and Salvatico, instead of showing 
the philosophical virtues which had been ascribed to 
him, appeared from the time of his entry into Florence 
a bigoted fanatic and tyrant, whose character soon re- 
vived the popular murmurs which had before disturbed 
the capital. 

The public was menaced with all the dangers which 
could result from the evil influence of the Capuchin 
Turchi, a prelate as violent and ambitious in his ex- 
alted station, as he had been mild and reasonable as a 
priest. He had signalized his episcopacy by seditious 
homilies, which had been published at Parma, against 
the ecclesiastical reforms of the Grand Duke Leopold, 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 223 

and Ricci. The new Court, on entering Tuscany, 
appeared to take no step without expressing its wrath 
against this devoted land. The ancient Bishop of 
Pistoia had no reason, therefore, to be astonished, on 
finding himself refused, by the Counts Ventura and 
Salvatico, the audience which he had requested them 
to obtain for him from the King their master. The 
latter, on hearing the name of Ricci pronounced, had 
already, with some degree o£ naivete, asked his courtiers 
if it was Ricci the heretic. 

Scarcely had the reign of ignorance and impotence 
thus commenced, when Rome boldly preferred all her 
former pretensions to authority. The Nuncio Morozzo 
imperiously demanded of Ricci the accustomed recan- 
tation. The Government produced a plan for an In- 
quisition of the Faith, on the same footing as the fero- 
cious Inquisition of Spain ; it was proposed that the 
reading of controversial works should be forbidden, and 
that the partisans of the ancient reforms should be 
driven into exile. Happily for Tuscany, the French 
Minister at Florence never ceased exclaiming against, 
the absurd measures of this unenlightened and impru- 
dent Government. The fear which his influence oc- 
casioned, prevented the monks from precipitating their 
designs, and raised an insurmountable obstacle to the 
machinations of the Nuncio against the ex-Bishop of 
Pistoia. 

This, however, could not prevent the publication of 
the law of April, 1802, which the fanatical party had 
taken care to keep secret, in order to avoid opposition. 
This law had for its end the destruction of all useful 
reforms and the ruin of all reformers. It abolished at 
one blow the ecclesiastical rules, of whatever kind 
they were, which had been published since the time of 
the Emperor Francis I. They loaded the Govern- 
ments which had shown any inclination to religious 
reform, with the most injurious epithets. They de- 
prived the Prince for ever of all power and influence 
over the persons and possessions of the clergy ; they 
took from the bishops their legitimate and inalienable 



224 SECRETS OF 

spiritual authority, to give them a temporal authority 
which they can and ought never to possess ; they ex- 
posed the Tuscans to the twofold despotism of the 
Roman Court ; they declared the reforms which had 
been made in Tuscany to be illegal and heretical ; and 
lastly, the Inquisition of the Nuncio's jurisdiction was 
established on a firm and indestructible base. 

It is difficult to describe the alarm which the unex- 
pected publication of such a law occasioned. The 
ministers of France and Spain, however, firmly resisted 
measures which, as well as the principles which had 
dictated them, were so opposed to the treaty recently 
concluded between the French Republic and the Court 
of Rome. But the blow was struck ; the only thing 
which was gained by the public disapprobation, was 
the universal contempt of the law, and the proof which 
was given, in the eyes of all Europe, of the weakness 
of the Prince who had introduced it. The law of 
April was not revoked, nevertheless, the ancient eccle- 
siastical laws of the Grand Duchy, although abrogated 
by the new disposition of the Sovereign, remained in 
full vigor and activity ; and the Minister, who sought 
to restore the deplorable times of Cosmo III., was unable 
to resist them. 

Fanaticism lost about that time her two principal 
supports in Italy, the Duke of Parma, and Turchi, the 
Bishop of that city. Louis of Etruria survived them 
but a short time ; he died March, 1S03. 

The Queen Maria Louisa was declared Regent 
during the minority of her son. " Without experience, 
vain and bigoted, and above all, entirely dependent on 
the former ministry, and on the intriguing and ignorant. 
Morozzo, the Nuncio, she desired nothing so much as 
to form a close alliance with them, in order to found at 
Florence a Catholic Academy, the design of which 
was to maintain what they called the purity of the faith 
in the capital and throughout Tuscany, and which 
took for its rules those of the Holy office itself. It was 
composed entirely of the enemies of Leopold's reforms. 

Their first endeavors were to abolish the decrees 



FKMALE CONVENTS. 225 

and the laws relating to discipline and education, 
which had been established by that Prince, and for 
which they substituted superstition with all its attend- 
ant follies. 

This frightful commencement gave notice of opera- 
tions still more disastrous, and of a destructive activity 
which nothing seemed able to resist. France and 
Spain hastened to publish an order for its being abo- 
lished ; and. on their proclamation the Catholic Aca- 
demy was dissolved. The ministers of those two 
powers were at the same time directed to represent to 
the Queen that she must moderate a zeal as pernicious 
as it was ill advised. 

Ricci, who again saw himself delivered from the 
evils which menaced him, regarded his safety as a mi- 
racle, which he attributed to the manifest protection of 
Catherine, his relative ; and to testify his gratitude, he 
associated her as patron with the tutelary Saint of the 
Church of Rignana, which he repaired on the occa- 
sion, and greatly beautified ! Not content with these 
external signs of his personal devotion to Saint Cathe- 
rine de Ricci, he endeavored to animate the devotion 
of the people, and composed hymns in her honor, which 
were sung by the superstitious. 

Scarcely had the Queen learnt this, when she con- 
ceived a better opinion of the ex-Bishop of Pistoia 
than if she had been really convinced of his being the 
most enlightened and the most virtuous of men. She 
began by suspecting that he was not irrevocably lost ; 
that it was yet, perhaps, possible for him to be recon- 
ciled with the Pope, for till that period she had thought, 
with the generality of her subjects, that he was an in- 
fidel. To form this hope, and the wish to succeed in 
the project of mediation, was the same thing with Ma- 
ria Louisa. And she prepared her way by a measure 
as strange as the project itself. She ordered prayers 
to be made in several convents, that Heaven would 
soften the heretical heart of the prelate : lastly, she 
persuaded the Pope to come to Florence, as he return- 
ed from his journey into France to crown Napoleon. 



226 SECRETS OP 

This circumstance gave rise to another, which com- 
pleted the comedy. Pius VII. was in close league with 
the Arch Duchess of Austria, the foundress of a con- 
servatory of girls called Paccanaristes, in Rome ; and 
having spoken of the invitation he had received from 
the Queen of Etruria. and of the desire which that 
Princess manifested of having Ricci received into his 
good graces, the mystical Arch Duchess conceived a 
wish to play a part in this pious enterprise. 

" The Arch Duchess was hy nature ingenuous, but 
was seduced by those who surrounded her. She was 
under the spiritual direction of Paccanari, an ex- Jesuit, 
a man immoral, intriguing and unenlightened." The 
proof of these assertions has been furnished by Pius 
himself, who was obliged to suppress the conservatory 
of girls which Paccanari had instituted and supported 
at the expense of the Austrian Princess, while Pacca- 
nari was confined to a convent for the rest of his days. 
The Arch Duchess addressed a letter to Ricci, Octo- 
ber, 1804. In this she accuses him of having led Leo- 
pold to do many things inimical to the interests of true 
religion. She assures him that he had occasioned the 
eternal destruction of many ; and exhorts him to seek 
his safety by throwing himself at the feet of the Pope, 
with her letter in his hand. Ricci replied by a letter 
full of dignity and respect, in which he endeavored to 
undeceive her with regard to Leopold. " The inten- 
tions of that great Prince, your father," said he, " were 
as pure as the greater part of his actions were visibly 
and eminently directed towards the good of religion." 
With regard to that which personally concerned him, 
Ricci contented himself with saying that he had con- 
stantly lived in unity with the Church, before which 
he had often protested, and should again be willing 
to offer, his submission ! 

The Pope returned no answer. He had formed 
the resolution of terminating this affair by a perso- 
nal interview with Ricci. The Queen of Etruria 
assured the latter of the pleasure his reconciliation 
with the Pontiff would give her. Ricci immediately 






FEMALE CONVENTS, 227 

proceeded to the Queen, thanked her for the interest 
she took in his affairs, and promised to present him- 
self before the Pope, as soon as he should arrive at 
Florence. 

Ricci had great confidence in the Pope, especially 
after what had occurred in France. He reflected 
not that it is precisely when the Court of Rome is 
obliged to yield to the powerful, she increases her op- 
pressions of the weak, to compensate in some measure, 
by her excessive despotism on the one side, the sacri- 
fices she is obliged to make on the other. 

The Pope, well prepared for the character he in- 
tended to play, arrived at Florence, May, 1805. Three 
days after, on the eve of his departure for Rome, he sent 
the Vicegerent to Ricci's residence to assure him of his 
desire to embrace him, which, however, he gave him 
to understand, could not take place unless Ricci signed 
the declaration which the Vicegerent presented. This 
formula required him to declare that he accepted from 
his heart and soul the apostolical constitutions passed 
against Baius, Jansenius, and Qxiesnel, from the Pon- 
tificate of Pius V. to the present time ; that he espe- 
cially accepted the Bull Auctorem Fidei, and that he 
desired this declaration to be made public. 

It is impossible to describe the trouble into which 
Ricci was thrown by this unforseen circumstance. 
He had time neither for private reflection, nor for con- 
sultation with his friends. All his representations to 
the Vicegerent were of no avail. The only reply that 
he could obtain was, that there was no longer any room 
for discussion ; that he must at once submit himself to 
the Pope, or never after expect a reconciliation. 

Some hours passed in the inexpressible misery of 
deliberations, hesitation, and anxiety, till at length 
Ricci decided, at the instigation of his friends Palmieri 
and the Abbe Fontani, the only persons present at this 
deplorable scene, that he would yield to the unfortu- 
nate necessity of the times. He mournfully obe}red 
those persuasions so foreign to the dictates of his own 
heart, and gave, for the love of peace and unity, a proof 



223 SECRETS OF 

of feebleness, the dishonor of which had been concealed 
as much as possible ; he gave it to free himself for 
ever from the persecutions of ignorance and fanaticism, 
which were every day gaining an increase of power in 
Tuscany. 

The following are some of Ricci's reflections written 
after the event, October, 1805, and which prove that 
his energy failed not on this occasion through any of 
the motives which generally render the inconstancy of 
men in their language or conduct culpable. The 
opinions of the ex-Bishop remained throughout the 
same ; his apparent change, and it is his best excuse, 
procured him neither places nor honors, for which he 
had no desire. He lost by this conduct the esteem of 
the men whose regard he most valued, and he did vio- 
lence to his own conscience ; but this same conscience, 
which never spoke to him in vain, persuaded him that 
he ought, at the price of any sacrifice, to cease to be 
the cause of discord in the Church and of scandal to 
simple believers. It was a false idea of Christian hu- 
mility, a virtue productive of the most amiable graces, 
but compatible with and favorable to the highest 
virtues of fortitude and resolution, which had the 
greatest influence in leading him to this step. 

The two friends of Ricci had also considerable influ- 
ence in bringing him to his decision. " They per- 
suaded me," says the Prelate, " that the Pope had de- 
termined to conduct me to Rome as an obstinate rebel, 
if the affair were not brought to an immediate conclu- 
sion. They knew the character of the Cardinals who 
exercised the chief influence over the Pontiff; and they 
saw me exposed to the most imminent peril, without 
protection or support." 

Ricci, having signed the deed, which was immedi- 
ately carried to the Pope, was directly conducted by his 
order to the palace, where he was then residing. 
Pius VII. received him with considerable tenderness. 
Ricci hastened to protest the unalterable purity of his 
intentions and his views, especially those which re- 
garded the assembly of his Synod, in which he intended 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 229 

to support those propositions in an orthodox and 
Catholic sense, which had been condemned as taken in 
a heretical one by the Bull Auctorem ; and he then 
presented the Pope a declaration which he had written 
and signed in testimony of the truth of these assertions. 
The Pope read it attentively ; and in returning it to 
him said, that it was not at all necessary, and that he 
was convinced of all that the Bishop had said. " He 
added, that, since no one could know my internal 
feelings, and since I had declared that my opinions 
had always been Catholic, the subject ought no longer 
to admit of a doubt : and that he should himself be in 
future the defender of Ricci's orthodoxy and honor, and 
that he should support them at all times, and wherever 
he might be." 

During this conversation, the Queen of Etruria and 
the Confessor Menocchio entered the apartment where 
Ricci and the Pope had met. Both of" them compli- 
mented Ricci on his reconciliation with the Holy See, 
which gave occasion to the Pope's Confessor to observe, 
that the Synod of Pistoia was the sole cause of all the 
revolutions which agitated Europe, and that the Bishop 
had done well in agreeing to its condemnation. Ricci 
thought it right not to make any answer to a proposi- 
tion as ridiculous as it was misplaced. 

That Confessor of Pius VII. passed for a saint, and 
even for a saint endowed with the power of working 
miracles. It had been reported, that, on his first jour- 
ney to Florence, in his way to Paris for the coronation 
of the Emperor, he had performed a miracle on a man 
afflicted with an hitherto incurable malady ; but this 
prodigy having had only a momentary effect, the im- 
portance which had been given to it vanished with the 
influence he had on the disease. 

The Pope showed himself very sensible of the pains 
which Ricci had taken to clear himself from having 
supported the obnoxious articles in the sense in which 
they had been condemned by the Bull Auctorem ; and 
appeared inclined to change the words, for a remedy 
of the scandal^ into these,/or general edification. But 
20 



230 SECRETS OF 

Menocchio, abusing the influence which he possessed 
over the Pope as his spiritual director, prevented this 
change ; " because," said he, " the Synod of Pistoia 
was guilty of the total overthrow of discipline, and of 
the opposition which was then made to religion." 

Of the motives which determined Ricci to sign the 
declaration, it is said: "he was firmly resolved to ex- 
culpate himself from the accusation of his not believing 
in the Pope, which his refusal to vist him, would have 
confirmed beyond doubt. Besides which, Ricci was 
pressed by the Queen Regent, who ardently desired to 
effect, through any means, a reconciliation between 
them. He considered that, had he refused, he should 
have every thing to fear, and that he could only ex- 
pect either a new imprisonment, or a perpetual exile, 
as the consequence of persevering in what was called 
schism, or of his wounding the pride of the Princess, 
by making her negotiation useless. On the other hand, 
the Pope had manifested his determination to cut short 
all disputes, and he had the declaration drawn up as 
the only method of terminating the difficulties. Ricci, 
who was an ardent lover of peace and unity, believed 
it to be bis duty to sacrifice his self-love in an act of 
submission and obedience, which would not in any 
way wrong the depot of faith. 

" He reflected, that, if he yielded on some points of 
discipline, he did but accommodate himself to circum- 
stances. These had totally changed ; it was necessary 
that a man should change with them, and that, still 
desiring to effect good, he should be willing to seek it 
by other means more adapted at the time to effect his 
purpose. 

"He reflected, above all, that, being reduced to the 
station of a private man, he ought to give up the inno- 
vations and reforms which he had made as a Bishop, 
without the consent of the Pope. It had been told him 
that the whole Church was in opposition to him, and 
he therefore submitted his will to the decisions of the 
Bull Aiictorem, that he might not appear an ambitious 
and obstinate innovator." 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 231 

The news of his reconciliation with Pius VII., pro- 
cured him a great number of visits and complimentary 
letters from all the prelates of Tuscany. The public, 
from that period, shewed him the most distinguished 
esteem and veneration. But he hastened from that 
universal attention, which had no charms for him, to 
the solitude of his country-house. 

There he learnt the judgment which was pronounc- 
ed on the decision he had taken. Some saw in it only 
a proof of inconstancy and feebleness; others regarded 
it as a true recantation and abjuration of his errors. 
Ricci cared for neither : but considered that he ought 
to be judged more according to his intentions than his 
actions. It was with the same feeling that he wrote 
to the Pope, May 1805, to compliment him on his 
return to his capital, to ratify anew his declaration, and 
to protest his sincere submission and gratitude. 

His part was irrevocably taken ; nothing could make 
him recall a determination of this kind. Since he had 
sacrificed his conscience, it was a proof that he believed 
the resolution indispensable. He was blamed for it by 
those who considered his recantation as the unworthy 
price of a few years' inglorious repose : he was praised 
for it by those who considered it a true and praise- wor- 
thy conversion. He merited neither the praise nor the 
blame ; he knew that he had no want of conversion, 
and he expected not any worldly peace on the part of 
those who had troubled his tranquillity and happiness. 
Deceived with regard to the true state of the Church, 
Ricci sincerely desired to serve the cause of religion, 
but he perceived not that the Court of Rome made use 
of him only for its own purposes. The ex-Bishop of 
Pistoia, without doing any good, was the cause of much 
evil which his adversaries did in his name, and he lost 
the reputation of that firmness and strength of soul, of 
which he had given many brilliant proofs during his 
career. In a moment he destroyed his own work. His 
enemies, freed from all fear, had now only to mention 
Ricci as the submitted and repentant child of Rome. — 
Ricci the courageous and enlightened reformer of Tus- 



232 SECRETS OF 

cany ! After having been the scourge of the in- 
triguing, and terror of the hypocrites, he finished by 
becoming their sport and their dupe, and by furnishing 
them with arms which he had so often broken in their 
hands. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Ricci's Recantation— Illness— and Death. 

Different was the conduct of the Pontiff from 
that of the persecutors of Ricci, and, among others, of 
the Cardinal Gonsalvi, who repaid the efforts of the 
prelate to confirm the reconciliation, with harsh and 
severe treatment. Pius VII., when Bishop of Imola, 
and " when Tuscany labored for the reorganization of 
its ecclesiastical regime, through the care of the inde- 
fatigable and sage Leopold,— Pius VII., who, as is ge- 
nerally known, did not see with an evil eye the spirit 
of the new legislation of the Grand Duke," would not 
expose himself by condemning in others, what he had 
formerly approved in himself. 

Scarcely had the Pontiff received the letter from 
Ricci, than he charged Fenaja to thank him in his 
name, and to promise him an answer from his own 
hand. 

The letter of the Pontiff contained expressions of 
joy, which their reconciliation had caused him, in 
consequence of the sincere adherence of the prelate to 
all the sentences emanating from Rome against Jan- 
senism and the Synod of Pistoia, and, above all, the 
spontaneous confirmation of the declaration which he 
had signed at Florence. In speaking to Ricci of this, 
the Pope added malignantly: "Bv which act you de- 
clare that you condemn all the evil you have done." 

The consistory was held in June. Pius VII., after 
having given an account to the Cardinals of the affairs 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 233 

of France, passed to that of the ex-Bishop of Pistoia. 
He related what had taken place at Florence, during 
his last abode there, and reported the precise terms of 
the declaration which the ex-Bishop had signed : but 
the Pontiff, in relating the protestations which Ricci 
had made at their first interview, said that the prelate 
had assured him that, '• even in the midst of his errors, 
his mind had always remained attached to the ortho- 
dox faith and to the apostolic see ;" and since his re- 
turn to Rome, Ricci had written to him to ratify " the 
recantation made at Florence." 

Ricci openly accused the Cardinal Gonsalvi of the 
base design of having wished to persecute him, even 
after his entire defeat. 

" Cardinal Gonsalvi," says the unfortunate Bishop, 
" was very much piqued at my affair having termi- 
nated without his interposition or approbation ; and 
habituated as he is to treat the Pope with a superiority 
which does not belong to him, I do not doubt but he 
has made known his vexation." 

The Pope's answer to Ricci's letter was sent from 
Rome, to the Pontifical Nuncio in Tuscany. The 
Nuncio paid the ex-Bishop of Pistoia a visit, " and by 
order of the Cardinal Secretary of state, he wished," 
said Ricci, "to make me feel the general disapproba- 
tion caused by my letter to the Pope, as if it had been 
a proof of my dissimulation in regard to the signature 
of the formula. He added, that the Pope was very 
discontented with it ; that he wished to make me feel 
his indignation ; that the reconciliation had been on 
the point of being destroyed, but for the observations 
which the Pope had made on my letter in his address 
to the consistory. Finally, he told me, always how- 
ever, in the name of the Secretary of state, that the 
Pope was kind, and that he had been surprised ; but 
that I must pay attention and regulate my conduct 
with circumspection for the future." 

Ricci answered these vain menaces with a smile. 
He proved to the Nuncio that Pius VII. was perfectly 
satisfied with what had taken place, and he proved it 
20* 



234 SECRETS OF 

even by the letter of the Pontiff, which was written in 
the most obliging and flattering terms. 

" At length," says Ricci, " having taken a more se- 
rious and decided tone, I informed him that M. the 
Cardinal offended me ; that my rank, the education I 
had received as a Christian and a citizen, and above 
all, the character which I possessed, made me abhor 
with detestation, every kind of dissimulation and false- 
hood. I made him understand that the affair had been 
begun and completed by the Holy Father himself, with 
the intervention of the Q,ueen, and that he had not 
been surprised into it." 

Having thus succeeded in proving that the Pope 
fully approved his conduct and sentiments, and that 
he had clearly made this known by his letter, as he 
had also done to the whole Church by his address to 
the consistory of Cardinals, notwithstanding the ex- 
pressions by which a hoslile hand had found the means 
of disfiguring those two convincing proofs, Ricci re- 
quested the Nuncio to give particular attention to a 
passage in the letter of Pius VII. thus worded :— 

"Would to Heaven you had long ago put us in a 
situation to afford you this consolation. If we our- 
selves had been alone personally concerned, it would 
have been afforded you long before. We have been 
always disposed not only to press you to our heart, 
and to receive you with all possible tenderness into our 
favor, but we have always most ardently desired it, 
and we only waited for that one indispensable requi- 
site to our reconciliation, which you have at length 
decided to afford us." 

" I might say/' continues the ex-Bishop, after having 
read this passage to the Nuncio, "that my first letter 
to the Pope, written March 1800, to compliment him 
on his elevation, was never presented ; I might add, 
that the uncivil reply which the Cardinal Gonsalvi 
made me in the name of the Pope, was given un- 
known to the Pontiff, and was conceived in opposition 
to his maxims and sentiments ; that it was fabricated 
by a person who produced a false letter from me, en- 






FEMALE CONVENTS. 235 

lirely different to that I had written, that he might ad- 
dress me an injurious reply, and one full of all the 
animosity and abuse which a base mind and an igno- 
rant man is capable of conceiving." 

Ricci contented himself with answering the Nuncio 
in this dignified manner. Silence and resignation were 
now the only arms he could oppose to his enemies ; 
for had he used others, he would have aided their de- 
signs, and at once produced a fatal rupture with the 
Roman Court. 

The direct correspondence between the ex-Bishop of 
Pistoia and the Pope, rendered all the endeavors of his 
intriguing persecutors vain. 

When the prelate received the last letter from the 
Pope, he called on the Nuncio. " He told me," says 
Ricci, " with much politeness, that he did not doubt 
my sincerity, and that he could not conceive why the 
Cardinal Secretary of State continued, to insist upon 
the necessity of watching my conduct. I answered by 
a smile ; and I asked if it was very warm at Rome 1 
This indifferent question disconcerted the Nuncio a 
little, who, from that time, never entered into a similar 
conversation." 

Religious studies became Ricci's chief occupation. 
He composed some theological works ; among which 
were, " Des Considerations sur les Epitres de Paul, sur 
l'Oraison Dominicale," &c. &c. The interest which 
he took in promoting the worship of Catherine de Ricci, 
who, says he, had so ardently contemplated the myste- 
ries of our Saviour's passion, induced him to ask of the 
Pope himself a plenary indulgence for the festival of 
that Saint. Ricci's letter was written January, 1806 ; 
and he received an answer from the Pope in February 
following, granting him all he had asked. 

He thought of nothing from that time, but of cele- 
brating, with the greatest pomp, the feast of the Saint, 
his relative. He had prayers printed for the people to 
address to her, and he added instructions for the de- 
vout, to merit the pontifical indulgence ; he had medals 
struck with the image of Catherine, and pious inscrip- 



236 SECRETS OF 

tions and prayers upon them, to be distributed among 
the faithful. 

It is scarcely possible to recognise in this idolatrous 
conduct the enlightened co-operator of Leopold, and 
the eloquent author of the discourse against the abuse 
of indulgences, pronounced at the assembly of the Tus- 
can Bishops. 

Those superstitious triflings of Ricci had not stifled 
his virtues. He conducted himself with much great- 
ness of soul towards the family of Senator Ricci, ever 
since the death of his brother, who had for a long time 
shown himself the most fanatical of his persecutors. 

He was very bountiful to the poor ; but his fortune 
was considerably decreased by the union of Tuscany 
with the French empire in 1806. 

Ricci felt his end approaching. He wished again to 
enjoy the country; and lest he should be taken ill un- 
awares, he arranged his affairs, and made his will, 
before quitting Florence. 

He was scarcely settled at his villa, before he had 
two severe attacks of epilepsy, which caused so much 
fear for his life, that he returned to Florence. There 
he appeared to regain his health and strength, when 
suddenly his malady returned with more violence than 
belore. Humors, which at first covered the whole of 
his body, at length fixed in his legs, and made him 
suffer severely. 

His patience, resignation, and gentleness, during a 
long illness, and dreadful sufferings, edified every one 
who approached him. 

The religious feelings which he evinced during his 
last moments, convinced those, who had hitherto doubt- 
ed it, of the sincerity of his belief. But he showed no 
remorse for his past actions, he never spoke of his re- 
forms, and he was only heard to implore the pardon 
of God, for having mixed any human motives with 
the maxims which had guided him during his episco- 
pacy. 

The author of the life of Ricci answers those who 
accused the prelate of being alone in his reformations, 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 237 

and appropriating rights to himself, which belong ex- 
clusively to the Holy See. . He proves that the reforms 
which had been undertaken, related to certain abuses 
existing in Pistoia and Prato, which kept the people in 
ignorance, superstition, and fanaticism, and nurtured 
the ambition, avarice, and dissipation, of both the high 
and inferior clergy, — abuses indeed, which, when Ricci 
had lost all influence, were extirpated for the most part, 
to the great contentment of pious and rational people, 
the rest seeming to take no interest in the affair. " In 
these latter times," says the writer, " we applaud the 
opinions and maxims which were received with horror 
as the actions of the Synod of Pistoia ; and we now 
pursue in tranquillity, and even with zeal, a consider- 
able number of those same reforms which were detested 
at the epoch of that assembly." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Survey of the Life and Prelacy of Ricci. 

The education which Scipio de Ricci received in 
childhood gave his mind a devotional character ; but 
the cultivation of his reason and temper would not 
allow him to become either fanatical or grossly super- 
stitious ! He was born a Roman Catholic, and destined 
for an ecclesiastic. 

His reflections upon the Pontifical Court, which he 
visited, — a servile, intriguing, and egotistical court — 
are precious from the mouth of so sincerely obsequious 
a priest ; his refusal to make a fortune through it, 
when he entered on the career of the prelacy, shows 
the disinterestedness of his noble mind. He wished 
to remain an honest man. 

Ricci assisted in the destruction of the Jesuits, whom 
he detested as a political body, whose existence threat- 



238 SECRETS OF 

ened governments and kings, corrupted the morality of 
the people, and prostituted religion. He beheld among 
them the falsifiers of holy doctrines, the satellites of 
the monstrous Papal monarchy, the enemies of every 
one whom they could not make subservient to their 
ends, and the poisoners of Ganganelli. 

From the time he was named Vicar-general of Flo- 
rence, he manifested his firm intention to be a patriot 
priest, ever ready to second the Prince who then reign- 
ed for the happiness of Tuscany. The first proof 
which he gave of it, was by co-operating in the repub- 
lication of books which unveiled the ambition, lusts, 
infamy, and crimes of several Popes, — books which 
Rome had condemned, as irreligious and impious. 

When he became Bishop of Pistoia and Prato, he 
traced out with severity the line of his duties ; and 
remained constantly and courageously attached to it, 
till the fury of his enemies obliged him to quit the 
diocese. 

The commencement of his episcopal government 
was the origin of all the evils which he suffered to- 
wards the close of his life, and of the persecutions under 
which he sank. He had irritated the powerful and 
dangerous body of monks ; and by attacking their 
privileges, and unveiling their turpitude, he threaten- 
ed the Court of Rome with the loss of the greatest 
number, and the most zealous, of her emissaries : from 
that time his ruin was decided. 

A philosopher would have tolerated the superstitious 
worship of the sacre cceur, added by the Jesuits to pre- 
ceding superstitions, till human reason complaining of 
it, should confound it with the mummeries already 
consecrated to ridicule. A philosopher, if he had 
known the cloisters to conceal individuals of both 
sexes, who had vowed to violate the laws of Nature, 
and not to fulfil the duties of society, would have 
considered it of very little importance, whether these 
persons lived according to the strange rules of their 
order or not, or whether they preserved the chastity 
they believed to be agreeable to God. 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 239 

But Ricci was a Catholic from his infancy, and his 
office as pastor obliged him to inspect the religious opi- 
nions of his sect. The worship of the sacre cc&ur was 
an abominable idolatry in his eyes, so much the more 
dangerous, because it was introduced by the authors of 
every error, those destroyers of morality, the Jesuits ; 
to whom it was destined to give credit and power. 

He could not behold, without horror, the disso- 
luteness of manners in the convents of the Domi- 
nican nuns, where the monks of that order openly 
taught atheism, encouraged the most disgraceful li- 
bertinism, and filled them with impurity, sacrilege, 
and debauchery of every kind. He could not help 
expressing his indignation at the indifference of the 
superiors, of the chief of the order at the Court of 
Home, and against the Pope, who, though they had 
been for a long time instructed with regard to those 
turpitudes, refused to take any step towards putting 
an end to them. Had he not every reason to conclude 
that those people must be of a different religion to him- 
self, and to despise them, because they pretended to 
persecute him on account of his zeal for that reli- 
gion ?» 

What religious soul would not shudder at seeing 
immorality thus added to profanation, and corruption 
bringing forth impiety ? By tolerating these crimes, 
the Pope plainly announced his indulgence of them ; 
but by encouraging their commission, he made himself 
an accomplice. 

The hatred of the numerous party, whose interest it 
was to keep up these abuses, did not prevent Ricci's 
continuing steadily in the route he had marked. Doing 
away with several pernicious practices, he labored con- 
stantly to make the language of religion more respect- 
able, and his priests, men of exemplary conduct, fa- 
thers of the people. He intended to instruct them in 
their conduct, and to console them under their misfor- 
tunes. Animated by these holy views, be banished 
itinerant missionaries, and improved the catechism 
enjoined by the Court of Rome, which increased the 



240 SECRETS OF 

favor of the multitude for the absurd prerogatives of 
the Papacy. 

Ricci was tolerant, because he was a just and reason- 
able man, rather than a blind reformer. This was to 
contradict himself as a Roman Catholic, but the time 
was come when such inconsistency was inevitable. 

Ricci, who detested the conduct and opinions of the 
two perverted nuns of his diocess, detested still more 
the cruelty of the Archbishop Martini, who had used 
violence to convert them. 

The decree of Leopold for abolishing even the In- 
quisition in Tuscany, was attributed at the time to the 
Bishop of Pistoia — the greatest praise which could 
have been given to that philanthropic pastor. Public 
instruction was a great object with Leopold and Ricci, 
as it is with all true friends of humanity. The Bishop 
labored more particularly in forming enlightened and 
wise ecclesiastics ; because through them the people 
would gain knowledge, and the peace and prosperity 
of the State would be ensured as the natural result of 
good management. 

Pistoia had its ecclesiastical academy ; and if the 
studies of the regular monks had been reformable, the 
activity of Ricci, excited by the exhortations of Leo- 
pold, would have introduced a better method of in- 
struction. Bat the monks, were only ignorant, and 
inclined to evil, and attached by interest to the Court 
of Rome, which supported them by numerous sacrifices, 
as being its most devoted and redoubtable soldiery. 
Having endeavored to correct them, to make them 
useful priests, and good citizens, was a great crime in 
the Bishop of Pistoia ; and in order to destroy this 
dangerous enemy to error, efforts were made by the 
Court of Rome, and by the monks, to assassinate him. 

The establishment of the ecclesiastical patrimony 
caused no little uneasiness at Rome. Some of the 
ministers, whose salaries were thus made entirely in- 
dependent of its influence, began to lose sight of its 
interests in their desire to diffuse the principles of mo- 
rality and religion. This revolution, as desirable for 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 241 

Tuscany, as it was inimical to Rome, whose grandeur 
and elevation were established on the servility and 
blind adulation of all around her, seemed by the un- 
remitted care and exertions of Ricci, about to produce 
a speedy and important improvement. 

Not content with merely instructing his clergy on 
the inalienable rights of the civil power, on those of the 
clergy, and on the usurpations by which Rome had 
weakened both the one and the other ; he showed them 
still farther by his example, how those rights should 
be restored to their legitimate possessors, more espe- 
cially as the Prince who then reigned in Tuscany, 
made it an imperative duty. Authorized by the 
Government, which Ricci recognized as the only power 
possessing the right of regulating the civil contract of 
marriage, Ricci dispensed with many points deemed 
essentia] by his diocesans ; and no longer permitted the 
Roman Datary to possess any authority in Tuscany. 

The priests, deprived of their ecclesiastical perqui- 
sites, were thus also divested of all their temporal juris- 
diction, of all authority in secular affairs ; and were 
obliged to submit with resignation, by the example of 
the Bishop himself, who voluntarily renounced privi- 
leges which had been accorded to the clergy in ages of 
barbarism and ignorance. 

The object nearest Ricci's heart, was the deliverance 
of the clergy from the influence of the Court of Rome; 
and he exposed to the Prince the abuses of the oath of 
fidelity, which the Pope requires of every Bishop when 
he grants his Bulls. With regard to most of them, this 
oath is a fatal bond : it retains them in the most deadly 
opposition to all legislative measures, which, having no 
other object than the happiness of the people, would 
diminish the overgrown authority of the Holy See. 
With these designs constantly in view, Ricci used every 
endeavor to enlighten his diocess by the diffusion of 
such books as seemed most calculated to produce this 
effect. Many of these taught them to controvert the 
idea of an infallible authority; and demonstrated to 
21 



242 SECRETS OF 

them the absurdity as well as the injustice of the 
greater part of its boasted procedures. 

The reforms in the diocess of Pistoia alarmed not 
only the Court of Rome, but the Tuscan ministry ; it 
was incessantly employed in alleging difficulties, and 
inventing obstacles to disgust the - Grand Duke with 
the idea of innovation ; but it saw all its attempts 
overthrown by the skill and attention of the Bishop. 
They feared, at the same time, the penetrating observa- 
tion of their master, and that of the public, which the 
new legislation had awakened to reflection. This was 
to sap the very foundations of despotism and ignorance ; 
but, notwithstanding the efforts of the Prince, they 
continued perseveringly in their machinations. 

The similarity of interests between the Tuscan 
Ministry and the Court of Rome, formed the band of 
an alliance, the principal effect of which was to pro- 
long the evils of humanity, by perpetuating the dark- 
ness in which its enemy stood protected. The vain 
and haughty aristocracy hastened to take part in a 
league, which promised them the preservation of all 
the prejudices on which their exorbitant privileges 
were established ; and Ricci, thus in open war with 
the Pope and his monks, the nobility and the Govern- 
ment, had no support but the esteem of Leopold and a 
good conscience. 

But the projects of the Grand Duke and the Bishop, 
induced the natural enemies of reform to concentrate 
their means of attack and defence, and dispose them 
to the best advantage against their courageous and in- 
defatigable adversary ; whilst the latter, by incessantly 
unveiling their chicanery and incapacity, exposed them 
to the anger of the Prince, and to the irreparable 
destruction of themselves and their evil influence. 
Ricci was not deceived by the majority of the priests, to 
whom he restored their dignity and their rights, while 
he resumed his own. The populace alone remained 
exposed to the intrigues, and to the powerful means of 
corruption, which the ministers, the nobles, and the 
emissaries of the Pope brought into action. Ricci's 






FEMALE CONVENTS. 243 

success deceived Leopold. He committed the inexcus- 
able error of inviting to his councils the dignified 
clergy of Tuscany ; a body necessarily interested in 
resisting the intentions which he had manifested to 
effect their good ; and he imprudently furnished that 
dangerous party with an occasion of making their 
opposition popular, and of openly professing them- 
selves to be the support and guide of the wandering 
multitude. 

The issue of the ecclesiastical assembly of Florence 
was the signal of a tumult at Prato. This popular 
rising was repressed without trouble ; but the example 
was given ; the multitude of hypocrites and fanatics 
had seen how easily superstition inflames a people 
long subdued by despotism. Rome dared to conceive 
the vast plan of arming the people against all sove- 
reign reformers of abuses. Already had her projects 
been made manifest in the affairs of Belgium, where 
she preached the sovereignty of the people, to the great 
profit of avaricious monks and imbecile nobles, as well 
as her own. 

The revolt of several Tuscan cities was fomented in 
the same manner, and by the same agents. That of 
Prato was followed by another at Pistoia, which was 
only appeased by the flight of Ricci, by the abolition of 
the religious reforms which he had established, and by 
the restoration of all the abuses of superstition and 
servility towards Rome. The same spirit extended to 
Florence, where the minister lost no time in completing 
his work of darkness. He effected his design without 
trouble. Fanaticism everywhere obtained a complete 
victory, and brought back in triumph her usual com- 
panions, Ignorance and Superstition. 

During these events, the French revolution took 
place ; and from its commencement the eyes of all 
Europe were riveted too closely on the spectacle it pre- 
sented, to be diverted by any object of minor interest. 
Rome seized the opportunity for persecuting Ricci, 
who was enjoying the repose he had obtained by the 
resignation of his diocess. A Bull, a monument of bad 



244 SECRETS OF 

faith, was issued against him. Bnt, although far from 
the world and its storms, Ricci conceived himself 
equally obliged to assist his brethren who were ex- 
posed to their fury, and all his decisions were a new 
homage to sincerity. Thus, in answer to some ques- 
tions from France, he replied, that the clergy ought to 
take the national oath prescribed by the representatives 
of the people ; and that the people should regard the 
priests so obeying, as their legitimate spiritual guides. 

Rome and Tuscany were, at that time, under the 
power of the Republican arms, which they had brought 
against them by their crooked policy. Ricci lived in 
voluntary exile, but was forced from his retreat in the 
most unjustifiable manner. Some brigands took pos- 
session of the Tuscan capital in the name of the 
Emperor of Austria, and the pretended miraculous 
Virgin of the city. They committed every excess, and 
every crime, of which the fanaticism of priests, or the 
folly of an imbecile government could be guilty. The 
ex-Bishop of Pistoia was thrown into prison, with all 
the partisans of Leopold, and with every Jansenist 
who had not sacrificed the interests of his country to 
the despotism of Rome. The long list of persecutions 
which Ricci had suffered, show the infamy of his per- 
secutors, their intrigues, their machinations, and cruel- 
ties. Nothing was neglected to satisfy the implacable 
vengeance of Rome and its partisans, and to sooth the 
vanity of the nobles whom Leopold had driven into the 
obscurity to which nature had condemned them. 
Whilst the persecutions were at their greatest height; 
Ricci, by turns flattered and menaced, wearied by 
measures the most adapted to exhaust the patience and 
courage of an isolated old man, attacked on the most 
feeble side, which his unsuspicious soul offered to his 
cunning and malignant enemies — Ricci was by degrees 
prepared for an act of condescension, to which he 
would never have consented, had he been able to see it 
under the same light in Avhich it appeared to his best 
friends. 

The victories of the French in Italy had snatched 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 243 

the unfortunate Bishop from the Court of Rome, which 
regarded him as its prey ; but soon after, the Tuscans, 
sacrificed to a deplorable policy, became by the most 
illegal measures, the allies of a weak and superstitious 
despot, of a wild and extravagant woman, and of a mi- 
nister equally devoid of talents and virtue. Rome, ex- 
isting but by evil, and only triumphing in darkness, 
hoped to regain in Tuscany all the ground she had 
lost. The abolition of the liberal institutions of Leo- 
pold and the French, and the establishment of the 
abuses which had been extirpated, preceded the fall of 
Ricci. Overwhelmed with evils without end, terrified 
by preceding atrocities, seduced by every thing which 
could make him mistake a feeble for a virtuous action ; 
he signed an instrument, which he believed was but 
consigning the past to forgetfulness, but which his dis- 
sembling enemies took care to convert into a condem- 
nation of his whole previous conduct, and of the mo- 
tives which had directed it. 

The humiliation of Ricci was the only thing of 
which Pius VII. could boast, on his return to Rome 
after the coronation of Napoleon. After this circum- 
stance, the ex-Bishop led a languishing life, till death 
put an end to his sorrows and his misfortunes. 

The entire life of Ricci was a continued series of 
attacks against the Court of Rome, whose pretensions 
to the inprescriptible rights of governments and of 
people, and its spiritual despotism over the clergy, he 
never ceased to combat. He unmasked its hypocrisy, 
he exposed its ambition, cupidity, intrigues, and cabals, 
and citing it before the bar of the civilized world, in 
the name of reason, justice, and religion, he menaced 
it with near and inevitable destruction. It was utterly 
impossible, however, that any agreement could exist 
between a power which flattered, caressed, and exalted 
the Jesuits, by every means it possessed, and a prelate, 
who exposed their pernicious system of morality, their 
principles subversive of society, and their dangerous 
practices of superstitious devotion. 

The zeal of Ricci, while only Vicar-general of Flo- 
21* 



246 SECRETS OF 

rence, for the re-establishment of ecclesiastical studies, 
according to a more rational plan than that in vogue, 
was another vexation, which the Court of Rome was 
not more ready to pardon than his contempt of the Je- 
suits. All the doctrines which they received were fa- 
vorable to a system of that universal priesthood they 
had contributed to establish, and to the power of the 
Popes, which they sustained. Every attempt against 
the scholastics and the modern casuists, was an act of 
hostility against the Court of Rome. Every attempt 
to direct the attention of the clergy to the Holy Scrip- 
tures, and to give some authority to the canons and 
the fathers of the primitive Church, was a breach 
made in the temporal authority of the Pope. It was 
a victory over those pretensions to spiritual infallibility, 
which are continually contradicting the words of those 
fathers who lived before the invention of this absurd 
dogma. 

The same observation may be made in respect to 
Ricci's activity in circulating good books, " which," 
said this enlightened Bishop, " all the world ought 
to be acquainted with, as the province of truth is the 
patrimony of all men without exception." His whole 
episcopacy was a train of operations to exalt learning, 
and to furnish materials proper for its successful pur- 
suit. 

But that which most of all tended to confirm the 
enmity of the Roman Court against Ricci, was the 
affair of the Dominicans of his diocese. Having prov- 
ed to the whole world that the false or forced virtues of 
the monks and nuns are but a tissue of hypocrisy, and 
most frequently become a stimulant to the most odious 
vices ; having shown that the institutions called Virgi- 
nales were generally schools of corruption and liber- 
tinism ; having at length brought to light the infamous 
viciousness of the soi-distant tribunal of penitence ; 
these were unpardonable crimes in the eyes of one, 
whose existence as well as authority depended on the 
blindness of men who yielded themselves to the impu- 
dent jugglers that surrounded his throne. But how 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 247 

much was this enmity increased, when the activity of 
Ricci made it appear that the nuns, the monks, their 
superiors, even the chief of the order, and the Pope 
himself, not only tolerated these disorders, but took no 
measures to arrest the Dominicans in their incredulity, 
impiety, and atheism, or to prevent their every day 
adding new victims to those they had been making for 
nearly a century and a half! 

Ricci openly assumed the ensigns of opposition to 
the Roman Court. He frankly entered into a league, 
the ranks of which were soon filled by all who consid- 
ered the existence of Rome incompatible with the 
actual state of society, and even with the existence 
of the religion on which the Popes founded their 
authority. 

Ricci was in public correspondence with this party, 
scattered through France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. 
He was nominally so with the Church which the Jan- 
senists had established in Holland, and which, by offer- 
ing its friendship to Rome, amply revenged the ana- 
themas hurled against it. Now Rome could not refuse 
this offer, from any other motive than because she was 
determined to trouble every State in which the Roman 
clergy were recognised as the spiritual guides of the 
people, and the Pope as the absolute chief of the 
clergy. 

All the exertions of Ricci seemed to render him 
odious to the bigoted Papists. The reclaiming of his 
Episcopal rights, which had been usurped by Rome, 
and the restoration of those of the Cures, were dan- 
gerous examples to the other prelates, who had any 
idea of the democratic organization of the principles 
it inculcated, menaced the Popes with a revolution 
which would make them, the brothers of Bishops, the 
brothers of their cures ; and which, by depriving them 
of the power of riches they had so long enjoyed, would 
render it necessary for them to obtain virtues and 
talents, which could alone make them the first among 
their equals. 

The project of making the monks useful as priests 



248 SECRETS OF 

and honest citizens, as also that of reforming the cate- 
chism, tended to deprive the Popes of their most fanat- 
ical emissaries, and to free religious persons from the 
danger of being deceived by their glosses and artifices. 
The plan of an ecclesiastical academy completed Ricci's 
system ; and that of the patrimony of the clergy deli- 
vered the pastors and their flocks for ever from all 
foreign interference. The purifying of public wor- 
ship from superstitious practices, was a consequence of 
this system, and was not less disagreeable to Rome 
than the other reforms ; for the mummeries with which 
the worship of the Church had been debased, formed 
a fruitful source of gain. 

Rome had not only to reproach Ricci with what he 
had thus done. She saw him voluntarily resign the 
excessive and abused authority which had been given 
to the bishops, as the heads of the ecclesiastical tribu- 
nals, called afficialites, which were entirely under the 
control of the Popes, to whom the former were bound 
by an oath, as anti-religious as it was anti-national. 
Ricci, to extirpate the evil, root and branch, boldly ex- 
claimed against this oath, "by which," said he, "bishops 
oblige themselves to obey a foreign prince /*' 

But the grievance which Rome made a reason for 
the most violent persecutions of its author, was his 
having reduced all his principles, maxims, and plans, 
into one entire system, which he got sanctioned by a 
synodal assembly of his diocess, and had formed into 
canons after the usage, recognised as regular and legal, 
of the primitive Church. 

This bold enterprise brought down upon Ricci's 
head the thunders of the Vatican, and persecutions 
which were directed sometimes by cunning, at others, 
by perfidy, violence, and cruelty. The superior clergy 
of Tuscany were united against him from the time that 
Leopold had convoked the ecclesiastical assembly. 
That prince, called to the imperial throne, only lived 
long enough to see his cherished work of Tuscan re- 
formation overthrown ; and Ricci exposed, without 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 249 

defence, to the hatred of his enemies, who triumphed 
in the name of superstition and fanaticism. 

From that period, the ex-Bishop remained without 
authority, and in voluntary exile. When, worn out by 
long suffering, terrified by frightful menaces, and de- 
ceived by false promises, he was induced to condemn 
his past conduct, and sacrifice his reputation ; — when 
even the Pope himself felt touched at his humble resig- 
nation and self denial, even then his chief persecutors, 
the zealots of the party, would not leave their prey ; 
and the unfortunate Prelate, yielding at length to the 
maladies which had been brought on by the persecu- 
tions he had suffered, expired, after having experienced 
most of the evils which Popish vengeance could invent. 

The concurrence of circumstances which abolished 
the reforms of Leopold, and brought on the destruction 
of Ricci, produced important consequences in favor of 
Roman despotism, to which great credit was given in 
the eyes of the people, who seldom judge of enterprises 
but by their issues. The bark of Peter again floated 
into Tuscany on the waves of fanaticism, superstition, 
and ignorance. By an avaricious aristocracy, and a 
vain ministry, that bark — the sails of which were 
spread wider than ever ; thanks to those who too in- 
cautiously endeavored to sink it, and to the military 
chief who made use of it to help him out of the stormy 
sea of revolutions — appeared sustained on the waters 
by a supernatural power ; and it began again to inspire 
respect for every species of abuse. 

Liberty, who had shown herself for an instant, was 
soon banished, and the extraordinary man who, with- 
out chaining her entirely, had fettered her as much as 
his designs required, himself soon disappeared. Again 
the sacerdotal power obtained its full authority ; but 
what opprobrium too great can be cast upon men, 
who, united to their fellow-creatures neither by senti- 
ments, principles, interest, nor natural ties, seem to 
have only one object, that of deceiving them to despoil 
them ; that of terrifying them with a false character of 
the Divinity, that they may be venerated as his inter- 



250 SECRETS OF 

preters, and of abusing them with an affectation of 
humility, that they may make them their servile fol- 
lowers ! 

Ricci is a proof of this. His memoir teaches us, 
not to regard the monastic life and the Roman Court 
as distinguished by the ordinary vices of men, but as 
rendered odious by the worst of crimes ; as not mere- 
ly affording much to excite regret, and rouse the bold 
hand of reform, but as a vast and terrifying system of 
the lowest debauchery and infamy. We see monks 
employing the name and authority of God to seduce 
the young females under their care, and their own 
nominally most sacred rites polluted by their attempts. 
Those priests stand before us as atheists ; not even re- 
garding, for a moment, any one of the natural move- 
ments of the heart in favor of virtue. 

The General of the order of Dominic, an order by 
whom so much innocent blood has been spilt, and 
which has precipitated so many estimable men into 
the flames, for venturing to declare they thought not 
as the Dominicans — the General of that order, in 
Ricci's time, was fully aware of the wickedness of 
which the latter complained. His indifference to them 
is sufficient evidence, that his opinions were in con- 
formity with the worst abuses, against which Ricci 
invoked the assistance of the civil power, whose first 
duty is to watch over the morals of the people. But 
the General and his Dominicans professed, in toto, 
la croyance an Pope — subjection to the Pope ; that 
they would commit any crime publicly^ to support the 
dogmas on which the pontifical authority rested, and 
the depraved instruments of which they in secret were. 
Ricci, by exposing the iniquities of the order, scandal- 
ized, but could not injure the Court of Rome ; and 
having been accused of not believing the Pop>e, his 
destruction followed as the consequence. 

The Pope himself was at the head of that dark con- 
spiracy against a bishop, whose greatest crime was his 
sincerity. Knowing, as well as the General of the 
Dominicans, the infidelity of the order, and its fatal 



FEMALE CONVENTS. 251 

effects ; notwithstanding, he showed no feeling of hor- 
ror, and was equally enraged against the prelate, who 
sacrificed all human respect, honors, and advantages, 
to the interests of virtue. 

Such is the Papacy, which is again suffered to es- 
tablish itself; which men fortify again with its ancient 
and pernicious errors ; which is still surrounded with 
its fanatical and yet most dangerous adherents, the 
Jesuits ; and which is permitted once more to arm 
itself with the scourges, that have for so many ages 
degraded men, and devastated the world — the scourge 
of the ferocious and frightful tribunal of the Inquisition. 
This fatal blindness of several European governments 
to their true interests, this false policy, this spirit of 
baseness, which makes them prefer the passive sub- 
mission of a people, degraded by superstition, to the 
acquiescence of a free people in the policy of a prince, 
can hardly be conceived possible at such a period as 
this — a period which has been preceded by half a cen- 
tury, during which the examination of every question 
interesting to humanity and nations has been debated 
in the most profound manner. 

For the honor of humanity, we trust that the people 
at least will recoil from the chains of superstition again 
forged for their minds. Every species of liberty is fal- 
lacious, that is not founded on the basis of truth and 
knowledge ; for no human power can preserve men in 
a state of slavery, but when the belief is current, that 
some of their fellow-creatures are destined by Provi- 
dence to render the rest of mankind miserable. 

Let us suppose for an instant, that we could annihi- 
late the rising spirit of the times ; let us suppose in- 
fancy subjected to the Ignorantins, youth to the 
Jesuits, mature age to the Inquisitors,— what horrors 
would not follow ! How many steps would not civi- 
lization retrograde ! 

Who will deny, that the people have made immense 
progress in solid improvement, since the year 1789 ? 
Who does not believe, that the French at the end of 
the eighteenth century, were as much above those of 



252 SECRETS OF FEMALE CONVENTS. 

the age of Louis XIV., as the wise and just Leopold 
was superior to the degraded Cosmo III. ? 

Why does not reform continue to proceed from the 
throne ? It was the duty of kings to continue the bril- 
liant reforms of the philosophical Joseph and Leopold. 
Unfortunately, in their time, the people were not pre- 
pared to receive their excellent systems ; but now, that 
they are so, will kings refuse to establish their freedom 
and happiness on the immovable basis of humanity 
and truth ? 

It was a Roman Catholic Bishop, who called for re- 
form in the time of Leopold, who confessed that this 
reform was absolutely necessary, because society was 
menaced with evils which demanded a sure and im- 
mediate remedy. His predictions have been verified. 
The people have been driven to extremity ; their go- 
vernments have resisted their just desires, and confu- 
sion has been the consequence. But the struggle is 
not at an end ; and whatever be the obstacles, the 
cause of justice and humanity must at length prevail. 

Why are there no more Riccis ? — why are the men 
who are moved by a like spirit, without power or in- 
fluence ? They would give new force to the benevo- 
lent religion of Christ ; a religion which a false zeal, 
a base superstition, and the intolerance of the priest- 
hood, have tended so materially to debase. 

A party which labors for the restoration of darkness 
and superstition, carries the germ of its own destruc- 
tion ; for the only base on which it could establish 
itself is wanting — the ignorance of the people. That 
change will take place ; but it has on the one side 
many obstacles to overcome, combats to sustain, and 
sacrifices to make ; on the other, there are many inte- 
rests to destroy ! But the whole subject resolves itself 
into a simple question : Is any government authorized 
by a divine law, to debase its subjects into ignorant 
slaves ; or any priesthood to convert them into imbe- 
cile monsters ? 



APPENDIX. 



A. — Page 1 



"The history of monastics, " observes Mr. Mackray, " exhibits in 
full view the melancholy truth, that their hearts were corrupted with 
the worst passions that disgrace humanity, and that the discipline of 
the convent is seldom productive of a single virtue. The prelates ex- 
ceeded the inferior clergy in every kind of profligacy, as much as in opu- 
lence and power ; and, of course, their superintending and visitorial 
authority was not exerted to lessen or restrain the prevalence of those 
vices, which their evil example contributed so largely to increase. If 
a really pious, vigilant, and austere prelate arose amidst the general 
dissoluteness of the age, his single efforts to reclaim those solitary 
ecclesiastics were seldom attended with success. 

"Boccace, by his witty and ingenious tales, very severely satirized 
the licentiousness and immorality which prevailed during his time, in 
the Italian monasteries ; but, by exposing the scandalous lives, and 
lashino- the vices of the monks, nuns, and other orders of the Roman 
priesthood, he has been decried as a contemner of religion, and as an 
enemy to true piety. Contemporary historians have also delivered the 
most disgusting accounts of their intemperance and debauchery. The 
frailty, indeed, of the female monastics, was even an article of regular 
taxation ■ and the Pope did not disdain to fill his coffers with the price 
of their impurities. The frail nun, whether she had become immured 
within a convent, or still resided without its walls, might redeem her 
lost honor, and be reinstated in her former dignity and virtue, for a few 
ducats. This scandalous traffic was carried to an extent that soon 
destroyed all sense of morality, and heightened the hue of vice. 
Ambrosius of Canadoli, a prelate of extraordinary virtue, visited 
various convents in his diocess; but, on inspecting their proceedings, 
he found no traces even of decency remaining in any one of them ; 
nor was he able, with all the sagacity he exercised on the subject, to 
reinfuse the smallest particle of these qualities into the degenerated 
minds of the sisterhood. The reform of the nunneries was the first 
step that distinguished the government of Sixtus IV., after he ascended 
the Papal throne, at the close of the fifteenth century. Bossus, a 
celebrated canon, of the strictest principles, and a most inflexible dis- 
position, was the agent selected by the Pontiff for that arduous 
achievement. The Genoese convents, where the nuns lived in open 
defiance of all the rules of decency and the precepts of religion, were 
22 



254 APPENDIX. 

the first objects of his attention. The orations which he publicly 
uttered from the pulpit, as well as the private lectures and exhortations 
which he delivered to the nuns from the confessional chair, were fine 
models, not only of his zeal and probity, but of his literature and elo- 
quence. They breathed, in the most impressive manner, the true 
spirit of Christian purity ; but his glowing representations of the 
bright beauties of virtue and the dark deformities of vice, made little 
impression upon their corrupted hearts. Despising the open calum- 
nies of the envious, and the secret hostilities of the guilty, he pro- 
ceeded, in spite of all discouragement and opposition, in his highly 
honorable pursuit; and, at length, by his wisdom and assiduity, 
beheld the fairest prospects of success daily opening to his view. The 
arm of magistracy, which he had called upon to aid the accomplish- 
ment of his design, was enervated by the venality of its hand ; and 
the incorrigible objects of his solicitude having freed themselves, by 
bribery, from the terror of the civil power, contemned the reformer's 
denunciations of eternal vengeance hereafter, and relapsed into their 
former licentiousness and depravity. A few, indeed, among the great 
number of nuns who inhabited these guilty convents, were converted 
by the force of his eloquent remonstrances, and became afterwards 
highly exemplary by their virtue, but the rest abandoned themselves 
to their impious courses; and, though more vigorous methods were, 
in a short time, adopted against, the refractory monastics, they set all 
attempts to reform them at defiance. The modes, perhaps, in which 
their vices were indulged, have changed with the character of the age ; 
and, as manners grew more refined, the gross and shameful indul- 
gences of the monks and nuns have been changed into a more elegant 
and decent style of enjoyment. Fashion has rendered them more 
prudent and reserved in their intrigues, but their passions are not less 
vicious, nor their dispositions less corrupt." 

Such is the record of monastic profligacy and corruption; and, 
when we think how the monks were regarded by the people with the 
profoundest reverence, and, moreover, with what swarms of them 
Europe was filled — " friars, white, black, and gray ; canons regular, 
and of St. Anthony; Carmelites, Carthusians, Cordeliers, Dominicans, 
Fianciscans Conventual and Observantines, Jacobines, Remonstra- 
tensians, Monks of Tyronne and of Vallis Caulium, Hospitallers, or 
Knights of John of Jerusalem ; Nuns of Austin, Ciare, Scholastica, 
Catherine of Sienna ; with Canonesses of various clans," — we cannot 
entertain a doubt, that the contagion of their example operated with 
most debasing and corrupting effect upon the character of mankind. 
What must have been the condition of morality, when its professed 
teachers were so immoral ? What, in the view of the God of truth 
and purity, must be the turpitude of that system, or of that widely ex- 
tended institution, which, for more than a thousand years, spread ita 
unhallowed influence over a great portion of the world, and triumphed 
in the overthrow of all that is virtuous and noble in the character of 
aian ? 

B.— Page 14. 

At the period of the Reformation, learning had ceased to dwell in 
the solitudes of monachism. The age of darkness had passed away, 
never more to return ; the art of printing had unlocked the storehouses 
of ancient literature, and sent abroad their treasures for the good of 



APPENDIX. 255 

mankind ; and thus there was not left the shadow of reason for the 
longer endurance of these incumbrances on the states of Europe j — 
and, pregnant as they palpably were with many very serious evils, 
there was the most urgent necessity for their removal. This the pro- 
gress of knowledge effected. These institutions, the birth of an igno- 
rant and superstitious age, fell before the brightness of the light of 
truth ; and, at their dismemberment, was unfolded more strikingly 
than ever had been done before their incorrigible depravity. 

Great have been the lamentations respecting the alleged outrages 
of the Reformation ; that literature will never recover from the 
disaster which it sustained by the loss of the thousands of precious 
volumes, which, with the monasteries that contained them, were, 
by the barbarous fury of the Reformers, consigned to destruction ; 
and that the demolition — occasioned by the Reformation — of the 
splendid edifices appropriated to monachism, inflicted a misfortune on 
the fine arts which is absolutely irretrievable. Those stately fabrics, 
it is said, the illustrious produce of immense labor and expense — on 
which all the taste and genius of the world were lavished, and which 
seemed destined to perpetuate through all time the triumphs of art, are 
now in ruins ; and the superb arches, the lofty columns, the moulder- 
ing walls, of those once glorious structures — the melancholy remains 
of such a magnificent creation of art and genius — present to the eye 
of the scientific observer, a scene of devastation, for which all the 
benefits of the Reformation will never atone ! 

Now, much of this expression of regret- is groundless, and with it 
we cannot sympathize. That the monastic libraries, at the time of 
the Reformation, were furnished with many — or, indeed, with any very 
valuable works, is a mere unwarranted assumption. For more than 
half a century had the press been in vigorous operation, and, during- 
that period, all in literature that was really valuable had been drawn 
from obscurity ; nor, distinguished as the Reformers were for their 
regard to learning, and, in several very splendid instances, for their 
literary acquirements above all their contemporaries, is there the 
smallest ground to doubt, that, if any of these literary monuments re- 
mained, they would have been the objects of their search and careful 
preservation. We have positive information respecting the state of 
some of the monastic libraries, which, in the absence of contrary evi- 
dence, may be regarded as a specimen of the condition of the rest. 
"In the life of Knox, the Scottish Reformer, we have an enumeration 
of the contents of several of these pretended receptacles of learning, 
which appear to have been despicable in the extreme. Legends of 
saints, pastorales, graduates, missals, breviaries, and other writings of 
a similar description, were the precious stores, for destroying which 
the Reformation has been branded with epithets of the most odious 
kind." 

c. 

AWFUL CONSEQUENCES OF PAPAL INFLUENCE AND PAPAL 
DOMINION. 

Proh Dolor ! hos toleiare potest Ecclesia Porcos 
Duntaxat Ventri, Veneri, Somnoque, vacantes? 
It is amazing that the Christian religion, whose characteristic is 
ove and humility, should be so far debased, aa to carry no other 



256 APPENDIX. 

marks than those of cruelty and pride ; that vows of poverty should 
entitle men to the riches of the whole world ; that professions of chas- 
tity should fill countries with uncleanness ; that solitary anchorites 
should engioss the pomps of the city ; and that the servant of servants 
should become the king of kings ; but what contradictions are not 
designing men capable of, when the enlargement of their power is in 
view? For this end, auricular confession was introduced; a new 
hell of purgatory was invented ; and the power of creating even their 
own God, was blasphemously assumed. By these arts, came the 
secrets of families into the hands of the priests ; by these arts, they 
seized on the purses of whole nations ; and by these arts, they arrived 
to be idols of the people, who were glad to part with their estates, with 
their liberties, and their senses also, to these spiritual usurpers. 

Not to mention the follies of other nations. British chronicles in- 
form us to what a degree bigotry once prevailed, of which let this in- 
stance suffice. John Bab, an author of unquestioned fidelity, who 
was himself a Carmelite friar, informs us, in his acts of English Vo- 
taries, that in the year 1017, King Canute, by the superstitious coun- 
sel of Achelnotus, then Archbishop of Canteibury, was prevailed 
upon to believe that monks' bastards were his own children, and that 
Fulbertus, the old Bishop of Carnote in France, was even then suck- 
led by the Virgin Mary : nor did he stop here, but after having bur- 
dened the land with the payment of that Romish tribute called Peter's 
pence, he went to Winchester, where, by the aforementioned Bishop's 
advice, he formally resigned his regal crown to an image, constituting 
it then king of England ! 

Thus was a mighty king converted to be the tool of his priests, 
and thereby becarne the darling of the Church, whose practice then 
was, not only to feed upon the spoils of the people, but even to make 
their monarch a prey to their ambition. And in those times a prince 
acquired the title of good or bad, not from his conduct in the secular 
government of his subjects, but according as he was either more or 
less, a promoter of the grandeur of his clergy. Thus Canute, though 
an usurper and a tyrant could merit a canonization ; whilst John, 
from whom was received that great security of their liberties, the 
Statute of Magna Charta, merely for not encouraging the corruptions 
and spiritual tyranny of the Romish Church, was branded with the 
name of Apostate, and forced at length, by an usurping priesthood, 
to hold his crown as tributary to the see of Rome. "When the kings 
were thus managed, it is no wonder that the laity followed their ex- 
ample submitting their necks to the same priestly yoke. 

The reader will be curious to know, how the spiritual societies came 
to possess such prodigious temporal estates : for the amount of the 
property owned by the monks prior to the Reformation included from 
fourteen to seventeen parts out of twenty of the whole land of the dif- 
ferent nations. The first monks we read of were in the middle of the 
third century ; men whom the persecution of the heathen emperors 
compelled to live in deserts, and who being by a long course of soli- 
tude, rendered unfit for human society, chose to continue in their mo- 
nastic way, even after the true cause of it ceased. 

The example of these men was soon followed by a number of crazy 
devotees, who were so ignorant of true religion, as to think that their 
way to heaven lay through wild and uninhabited deserts, and who, 
finding that they had not charity enough to observe the precept of 
Christ, of " loving their neighbor as themselves," were resolved to 



APPENDIX. 257 

have no neighbors at all ; thereby frustrating the design of Chris- 
tianity, which was to establish the good of society. 

The next monks were a set of worthless, but ambitious wretches, 
who, having no way of making themselves famous in the world, re- 
tired out of it ; where they reverenced idle ceremonies of their own 
institution, where the)' pretended conference with angels, with the 
Virgin Mary, and even with God Almighty ; not unlike Numa, the 
high-priest of the heathen Romish Church, who abused the people 
with stories of his nightly interviews in a cave with the goddess JEge- 
ria. At length, these holy cheats, to gain yet more veneration, began 
to practice on their bodies the most cruel severities, till at last they 
were worshipped by the thoughtless mob as saints : imitating, in 
some measure, the example of that heathen monk, Empedocles, who, 
to be thought a God, leapt into the burning mount iEtna. 

After this, designing men, who saw how great an influence these 
pretended saints had over mankind, took upon themselves the same 
exterior form of godliness, thereby not only to raise an empty name,, 
as the former had done, but to enrich themselves at the expense of 
the i deluded multitude. Hence flowed those many profitable reli- 
gious maxims : — " that to give to the Church, was charity towards 
God, and as such, would atone for a multitude of sins, were they ever 
so heinous, — that the Church was not the congregation of the faithful, 
as Paul fancied it to be, but the body of the priests : — that the priest, 
though ever so like the devil, was God's representative, and ought to 
be honored as such : — that there was such a place as purgatory, and 
that the prayers of monks like Orpheus' harp, was the only music 
that could mollify the tyrant of that place, who, being their very good 
friend, would release a poor soul at any time for their sake : that whis- 
pering all secrets in the ear of a priest, was the only cure for a sick 
soul : — that every priest had the power of pardoning all sins, except 
those only which were committed against himself; — that indulgences 
purchased in fee, could entitle a man and his heirs to merit heaven by 
sinning : — and lastly, that the priest could by virtue of a hocus pocus, 
quit scores icilh his Creator by creating him." These, and such like 
money-catching tenets, soon drew the whole wealth of the laity into 
the hands of these contemners of the world, and all its pomps and 
vanities ; who not only flourished in Egypt and Italy, where they first 
sprang up, but were spread through all Christendom, and began 
quickly to vie in power and riches with the greatest monarchs, even 
in their own territories, till, at last, kings and princes themselves, were 
proud of becoming monks and abbots. 

A minute detail of the divers religious orders which swarmed in all 
parts of Europe is unnecessary. The portraiture of those who de- 
voured and consumed Britain will exhibit a correct specimen of the 
whole fraternity. 

Benedictines. — The first of these that prevailed, was the order of 
the Benedictines, whose rule was introduced into Britain by Augus- 
tin the monk, in the year 596. The founder of this order was Bennet, 
who in his own life time erected twelve monasteries. The rules that 
he left behind him, although the papists affirm that they were dictated 
to him by the Holy Ghost, are stuffed with the most trifling and su- 
perstitious ceremonies ; and his whole seventy-three chapters contain 
but four wholesome precepts, two of which only, that relate to eating 
and drinking, his followers observe ; neglecting the other two, which 
are the fundamentals of their order, enjoining humility and poverty ; 
22* 



258 



APPENDIX. 



for in his seventh chapter, Bennet assigns twelve degrees of humility 
for his monks to practice : which how well they comply with, you 
may rind by the humble titles of the abbots of Mount Cassin, the 
head monastery of his order, of which himself was first abbot! "Pa- 
triarch of the Sacred Religion, Abbot of the Sacred Monastery of 
Mount Cassin, Duke and Prince of all Abbots and Religions, Vice 
Chancellor of the kingdom of both the Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of 
Hungaria, Count and Governor of Campania, and Terra de Lavoro, 
and of the Maritime Province, Vice Emperor, and Prince of Peace." 
In his fifty-ninth chapter, he enjoins poverty to all his disciples ; and 
in obedience to this rule, the above mentioned monastery of Mount 
Cassin have so renounced the world, as to be possessed but of " four 
bishopricks, two dukedoms, twenty counties, thirty-six cities, two 
hundred castles, three hundred territories, four hundred and forty vil- 
lages, three hundred and six farms, twenty three sea ports, thirty-three 
islands, two hundred mills, and'one thousand six hundred and sixty- 
two churches." This was their holy poverty ; and thus you may see 
how religiously these ten rules have been observed, and how spiritu- 
ally the followers of Bennet retreated from the world in Italy ; who 
were soon imitated in some of these kinds of holy self-denials, by 
their pious brethren in England, as you may learn from the vast num- 
bers of rich abbeys which the Benedictines possessed. These were 
the humble priests from whom King Henry II. received the discipline 
of eighty lashes, for having like an undutiful son of the Church, dared 
to contend in power with their patron Thomas-a-Becket, whose stirrup 
he had been obliged to hold, whilst that meek prelate mounted. 

As these monk3 began to be notorious to the world for their obsce- 
nities and luxury ; in the year 912, Oden Abbot of Cluny, took upon 
him to correct, their abuses, and gave rise to the Cluniacs ; who were 
the same year translated by Alphreda, dueen of England ; for who 
more proper to promote superstition than a zealous ignorant woman ! 
However, to show how thoroughly these men reformed upon Bennet's 
followers, especially in point of humility, they were not settled one 
whole century, before the Abbot of Cluny contested the title of Abbot 
of Abbots, with those of Mount Cassin. 

Carthusians.— The next order was that of the Carthusians, first 
established in the year 10S6, in the desert of Chartreuse in Grenoble, 
by one Bruno, who was thereunto moved by hearing a dead man cry 
out three times, " That he was condemned by the just judgment of 
God ;" which was a very plain precept for building monasteries ! This 
man professed to follow the rule of Bennet, adding thereunto many 
great austerities by way of reformation ; amongst others he ordained, 
that they ought to be satisfied with a very little space of ground about 
their cells, after which, let the whole world be offered unto them, they 
ought not to desire a foot more. This, they have construed to signify 
a foot more than the whole world : for their cells even in Bernard's 
time, became stately palaces, and their little spaces of ground, stretch- 
ed themselves into great tracts of land. They first settled themselves 
in England in the year 1180, and in a very short time had gained as 
much wealth by their vows of poverty as any other order. 

Cistercians.— They were so called from Citeaux, where they first 
assembled ; and soon after admitted Bernard for their head, whence 
they are styled Bernardines, who were another reformation upon the 
Benedictines. 

Bernard himself founded one hundred and sixty monasteries ; who 



APPENDIX. 25£ 

at first would have no possessions, but lived by alms, and the labor 
of their own hands ; which being too apostolic a life for monks, they 
soon grew as weary of poverty and industry as their neighbors ; and 
in a little time rivalled those, upon whom they pretended to reform, 
in wealth, luxury, wantonness, and such like monkish virtues. At 
their first institution, they wore black monkish habits, till the Virgin 
Mary, out of her great love to these fat friars, came down from 
heaven on purpose to reform their dress, as being the most essential 
part of their order. She appeared herself to their second abbot, 
bringing a white cowl in her hand, which she put upon his head, and 
at the same instant, the cowls of all the monks, then singing in the 
choir, were miraculously turned to the same color. Thus did the 
Virgin change the habits of the Cistercians from black to white, as 
they had before altered their lives, from a sad, melancholy retirement, 
to a merry, jovial society — black being no more fit for a jolly priest, 
than white is for a mournful penitent. Besides, the "old monk Satan" 
being represented as black, the Virgin was unwilling that her friends 
should be like him in dress, though they resembled him in every 
thing else. These locusts swarmed first in England, about the year 
1132, and continued there in the exercise of their sanctity; a remark- 
able instance of which was their poisoning of King John at Swines- 
head, in Lincolnshire, an abbey of the Cistercian order. 

Canons. — There was another sort of religious order in the Church 
of Rome, who were called Canons. These were to live in common, 
and to have but one table, one purse, and one dormitory. But as 
many of them began to abate of the strictness of their first rules, a 
new sect sprang up, that pretended to reform upon the rest, and these 
were called Regular, whereas the others, by way of reproach, were 
styled Secular. When Canons began, is not certain ; but the first 
Regulars we read of, are those whom Pope Alexander II. sent from 
Lucca to John Lateran. The Regular Canons were so irregular, 
and guilty of such abominable crimes, that even Pope Boniface VIII, 
was forced to drive them away, and for the peace of the Church, to 
place Secular Canons in their room. Beriners, in the year 636, first 
introduced those Augustinians into England, who strictly followed 
the example of their brethren of John Lateran. 

Pramonstratenses. — They followed the same rule with the former, 
were founded by Norbert, about the year 1120, at a place which the 
Virgin pointed out to him, and which therefore was pre-monstre, or 
foreshown. These monks, to get a greater esteem in the world after 
the death of their founder, published that he had received his rule, 
curiously bound in gold, from the hands of Austin himself, who 
appeared to him one night, and said thus : " Here is the rule that 
I have written, and if my brethren observe it, they, like my children, 
need to fear nothing at all in the day of judgment." Indeed, those 
fathers, for their great security in the last day, have firmly adhered to 
one of his precepts, that commands them to love one another. What 
confirms this suspicion is, their declaration in the year 1273 ; in 
which, after having acknowledged that women are worse than the 
most venomous aspics and dragons, they resolved never to have any 
more to do with them. 

Gilbertines. — The next order is that of Gilbert, a little crooked 
schoolmaster, born in Lincolnshire, who, by reason of his deformity, 
despairing to bring the women to answer his lewd inclinations in a 
secular manner, was resolved to make religion subservient to his 



960 



APPENDIX. 



purposes; and to this end he founded thirteen monasteries, containing 
both sexes together, to the number of seven hundred men, and fifteen 
hundred women. This order of the Gilbertines, was established at 
Seraprmgham, in 1148, and was thence called the Sempringham 
order ; but their disgusting characteristics exhibit such an outrage on 
common decency, that delicacy compels us to suppress further* par- 
ticulars. r 

Mathurines.— They were so called from their founder John Matha. 
were likewise styled Trinitarians, because they lay under an obliga- 
tion ot dedicating all their churches to the Holy Trinity ; they pro- 
fessed the rules of Austin, and added to them several others ; amonu- 
which is that remarkable one of riding upon an ass, the only thin* 
in which I can find that those fathers imitated Christ. They were 
instituted in the year 1257. The professed original design of their 
establishment, was for the enlargement of captives ; and whatsoever 
substance fell into their hands, was to be divided into three equal 
parts ; one of which was to be remitted to Christian slaves for their 
redemption, whilst the other two were to remain in possession of these 
charitable bankers, as a satisfaction for their great pains in making 
sucn a return, which a merciful Jew would have done more faithfully 
and for a tenth part of the reward. But, two parts in three bein°- too 
scanty a recompence for the great toil of a lazy friar, those Mathu- 
rines, having no other God but money, to approve themselves true 
Trinitarians to that deity, often cheated the poor captive of his thiid 
part, rather than they would divide the substance. 

This was the ceremony of the Ass. In several churches in France, 
in early ages, they celebrated a festival in commemoration of the 
Virgin Mary's flight into Egypt. It was called the Feast of the Ass. 
A young girl richly dressed, with a child in her arms, was set upon 
an ass superbly caparisoned ; the ass was led to the altar in solemn 
procession ; High Mass was said in great pomp ; the ass was taught 
to kneel in proper places ; a hymn, no less childish than impious, 
was sung in his praise ; and when the ceremony was ended, the 
priest, instead of the usual words with which he dismissed the peo- 
ple, brayed three times like an ass; and the people, instead of their 
usual response, we bless the Lord, brayed three times in the same 
manner. 

This ridiculous ceremony was not, like the festival of fools and 
some other pageants of those ages, a mere farcical entertainment 
exhibited in a church, and mingled, as was then the custom, with an 
imitation of some religious rites. It was an act of devotion performed 
by the ministers of Romanism, and by the authority of the Church. 

Thoseeight religious orders grasped the greater part of the property 
in England. Four other monkish tribes held no possessions of their 
own, but being like the frogs in Egypt in numbers and ubiquity, 
virtually were masters of the" island, as it was deemed a crime equal 
to sacrilege, to deny them admission to any place which they con- 
descended to honor with their presence. 

Franciscans.— The Franciscans, or Grav Friars, were instituted in 
the year 1206, by Francis, whose first prank of holiness was robbino- 
his father, for which pious act being disinherited, he, like a true 
ranter, stript himself stark naked, and ran away towaids a chapel 
near Assisy in Umbria, where being a beggar himself, he be<ran a 
begging order ; which being founded on sloth and idleness, drew in 
so many convents, that Francis, even in his life time, saw two thou- 



APPENDIX. 261 

sand convents of hi3 own monks, all mumpers, gypsies, vagrants, 
and such like persons, taking upon him his profession of sanctity, 
which agreed so well with their own inclinations. It were endless 
here to enumerate those many ridiculous and blasphemous miracles, 
with which his lying legend is filled ; such as the bearing the marks 
of Christ upon his body, which were imprinted there by Christ him- 
self; such as his conversing intimately with the Virgin Mary; such 
as his healing the lame and blind, nay, and even raising the dead to 
life. Miracles, upon the strength of which, his blind followers have 
not hesitated to publish him greater than John the Baptist, and to all 
the apostles, and to affirm that a roll from heaven declared him to be 
the " Grace of God." Nay, they have not been ashamed to call him 
" Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Relying upon the sincerity 
of the author of his legend, I mean Lucifer, whose seat this great 
saint fills in heaven, who being once abjured by a priest, answered, 
that " there were only two men marked alike, Christ and Francis." 

Dominicans or Black Friars. — They took their rise in the year 1216, 
from that godly butcher, Dominick, whose catholic zeal was first 
manifested in the barbarous crusade which he set on foot against 
those innocent people, the Albigenses, of whom above one hundred 
thousand were massacred at once, by that saint's instigation ; for at a 
smaller price of blood he could not hope to purchase a canonization in 
a Church, which was so well stocked with such kind of saints before. 
To give yet a farther instance of his Christian charity, when he saw 
how the number of heretics were diminished by his wholesome seve- 
rities, like a true high-church champion, he listed into his order a set 
of merciless ruffians, whom he styled the militia of Jesus Christ ; 
whose employment was to cut the throats of all those who were so 
schismatical as to dissent from him in opinion. It was he also who 
founded that merciful court of justice, called the Inquisition, nor did 
he want for miracles any more than his brother Francis : for though 
he had no such bodily marks, yet he received the Holy Ghost with 
the same glory of a flaming tongue as the apostles did ; and whereas 
Christ being Verbum Dei, only proceeded from the mouth of God, 
Dominick was seen to come from his breast. Nay farther, he like 
Paul was ravished into the third heaven, where seeing none of his 
own order he complained to Jesus Christ of it ; who exhibited his 
mother, the Virgin Mary, cherishing vast numbers of his followers in 
a manner that delicacy compels us to conceal. This diabolical sect 
pretended to follow the rule of Austin, and multiplied so fast, that in 
the space of two hundred and seventy years, they had one thousand 
one hundred and forty-three convents. 

Carmelites, or White Friars. — They pretend that the prophet Elias 
was the first Carmelite, who obtained of our Saviour at the time of 
his transfiguration on Mount Carmel, this grand privilege, that his 
order should remain till the end of the world. The true time of their 
foundation, was in the year 1122, by Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, 
who gathered together a few Hermites, that lived on Mount Carmel, 
and gave them the pretended rule of Basil. When Palestine was 
taken by the Saracens, they flocked into Europe, where Pope Hono- 
rius IV. altered their habits, and for an indication of their humility, 
dubbed them Christ's Uncles, ordering them to be called Brothers of 
the Virgin Mary. Innocent IV. upon~their parting with that heretical 
clause in one of their rules, " that they only ought to hope for salva- 
tion from our Saviour," like a true Pope, granted them many immu- 



262 



APPENDIX, 



m ties and privileges ; whose example was followed by Pope John 
XXII. he being thereunto moved by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, 
who according to his pretended usual familiarity, accosted 'him 
in these words : " By express command of Me and my Son, thou 
shalt grant this privilege, that whosoever enters this my order shall 
be free from guilt and punishment of their sins, and eternally saved." 
Urban IV. was likewise favorable unto them : as was Eugenius VI. 
who mitigated their rule, and permitted them to eat flesh, as a reward 
for their having burned alive one Thomas, brother of their own order, 
for blasphemously affirming, that the abominations of the Church of 
Rome needed a reformation. 

This successive friendship of Popes to them, increased their con- 
vents to a number not inferior to that of any other order. And they 
made such good use of the Virgin Mary's favor in exempting them 
from the guilt of sin, that Nicholas of Narbona, general of their 
order, after having reproached them with their hypocrisy and abomi- 
nations, in the year 1270, retired from their society, being no longer 
able to bear with their scandalous lives. They passed over into Eng- 
land about the year 1265, and had for their general Symon Stock, so 
called from his living in a hollow tree. 

Austin Friars.— They derive their original from the same person 
with the regular Canons, and by the same forgery. Their beginning 
was founded on this ridiculous story, from their own legends. It hap* 
pened on a certain occasion, as Pope Alexander IV. lay half asleep 
and half awake, that the great Augustin, though dead and rotten 
some hundred years before, appeared to him under a dreadful figure, 
having a head as big as a tun, and the rest of his body as smalfas a 
read ; by which mysterious form, the Pope immediately knew the 
saint, and concluded that he ought to found an order to this Holy 
Father, whose head could not be at rest in the grave for want of a 
body. And this gave rise to these mendicant Augustinian Friars, 
who being confirmed by following popes, increased so prodigiously 
as to have in a few years above two thousand convents of men, and 
three hundred of women. They passed from Italy into England, in 
the year 1252 ; and at their arrival a raging sickness broke out in 
London, and spread over the whole kingdom, as a presage of the de- 
struction and plague, which these vermin would in time bring upon 
the nation. to r 

Hospitallers of John of Jerusalem, and Knight Templars. — They fol- 
lowed the rule of Augustin in many points, but were wholly excluded 
from the exercise of the canonical office : their vow was to receive, 
to treat and defend pilgrims, and also to maintain with force of arms 
the Christian religion in their country ; none weie admitted amongst 
them, but those who were of noble extraction, whilst the religious 
societies were for the most part composed of the dregs of the earth ; 
and they acquired to themselves such immense treasure, as procured 
them the envy and hatred of all orders ; which was the true cause of 
the total extirpation of the Templars, and contributed to the diminu- 
tion of the power and revenue of the Hospitallers, who are now called 
Knights of Malta. 

Not inserting therefore these two military societies, we shall find 
that the number of religious orders amounted exactly to twelve ; two 
plagues more than ever Egypt felt, and of a much more dreadful na- 
ture. For Mases only turned their rivers into blood ; whereas the 
monks, by their persecutions converted the whole nation into a sea of 



APPENDIX. 263 

blood : he sent frogs, lice, and flies into all their quarters, much less 
troublesome vermin than those mendicant friars, who swarmed in all 
the private families : he called for murrain upon the Egyptian cattle, 
and for boils upon the flesh of their inhabitants ; and what were the 
religious orders less, than the consumers of the substance, and the 
corruption of the people? He commanded hail and locusts, which 
destroyed only one season's crop ; but those sanctified caterpillars 
devoured the land for ages together. He caused a darkness which 
soon passed away ; but the eclipse which these men brought upon 
the light of the Gospel, endured for more than twelve hundred years. 
And lastly, the first-born only, in that unhappy land were slain by the 
angel of God ; whereas in that, then much more miserable country, 
those messengers of the devil saciificed whole families to their cove- 
tousness and lust. That men should desire the onions of Egypt is no 
wonder ; but that they should long for its very plagues, is a folly pe- 
culiar only to superstition. 

The rules of the Nuns were exactly the same with those of their 
brethren, the Friars, in each respective order, to whom they served 
only as an appendix or house of ease. All that may be truly affirmed 
of them is, that they were a set of silly, superstitious women, who 
thought it to be a piece of spiritual devotion to be subservient to the 
monks, in gratifying the lusts of the flesh; and bore to the world the 
face of chaste Christian sisters, whilst, like a Turkish seraglio, they 
carried in private the teeming marks of the labor of their ghostly 
fathers. 

Jesuits. — A plague exceeding all the rest succeeded the Reform- 
ation, and was contrived by theTVIother of Abominations of the earth 
to overthrow the consequences of that glorious event. The Jesuits 
sprang up in the year of our Lord 1540. Their first founder was 
Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish soldier, who collecting together all the 
different monastic rules of preceding orders, added thereunto some 
extraordinary ones of his own, particularly this : "that the general, 
provincials, and superiors, of this order, may dispense with all laws, 
human and divine, dissolve all oaths and vows, and free men from the 
obligation of all rules and decrees." They were called Jesuits, from 
a pretended vision of God the Father, who appeared visibly to Igna- 
tius Loyola, and desired his Son Jesus Christ, who stood by laden 
with a heavy cross, to take a special care both of him and his com- 
panions, which Christ promised he would not fail to do at Rome. 
This pestiferous sect multiplied so fast, that in the year 1608, Riba- 
diniera reckons that they possessed thirty-one provinces, twenty-one 
professed houses, thirty-three noviciates, ninety-six residential houses, 
and two hundred and ninety-three colleges, besides their first college, 
which they pretend was in the womb of the Virgin Mary. These 
Jesuits are much the most dangerous vermin of all those who pretend 
to the name of Religious, inasmuch as they declare, no villainy, no 
treachery nor cruelty, to be criminal, provided it tends to the benefit of 
their society. And by this means, whenever a nation is so unfortunate 
as to be overrun with this diabolical crew, no one member of the com- 
munity can promise to himself security either to his life, honor, or 
estate. Nay, the person of a monarch is not exempted from danger, 
when he is once become an object of Jesuistical spleen ; as was 
notoriously manifested in the whole series of the reign of King 
Henry IV. of France, whose life was many times attempted by these 
ghostly fathers, before they accomplished their wicked ends. I shall 



264 



APPENDIX. 



only mention three of their most remarkable conspiracies. The first 
was that of Peter Barriere, a soldier, engaged to commit the murder 
by Christopher Abre, curate of Andre des Ares, and by Varade, the 
rector of the Jesuits' College. The former told him, " that by such 
an act, he would gain great glory, and paradise." The latter, 
" that enterprise was most holy, and that with good constancy and 
courage, he ought to confess himself, and receive the blessed sacra- 
ment," which he accordingly did ; and being thus Jesuistically pre- 
pared, he embarked in the attempt, but, whilst he was watching an 
opportunity to put his bloody design in execution, was timely dis- 
covered, and received the due reward of his villainy. 

The second conspirator was Jean Chastel, son to a draper in Paris, 
and by his own confession, bred up among the Jesuits in their king- 
killing doctrine ; and being persuaded by them, that the murder of 
king Henry IV. would atone for all his past sins, and merit heaven, 
he attempted it by stabbing that monarch in the mouth with a knife ; 
which occasioned this remarkable saying of the king's — "It seems 
then, that it is not enough that the mouths of so many good men have 
testified against the Jesuits as my enemies, if they be not also con- 
demned by my own mouth." It was for this fact "that these ghostly 
fathers were banished France, and a column was erected on the very 
place where the parricide's house stood, in memory of them, and of 
their assassin disciples. 

The last and most effectual regicide, whom these fathers employed, 
was the bold and bloody villain Ravaillac, who gave Henry IV. his 
mortal stab, on May 14, 1610, after he had escaped above fifty con- 
spiracies, most of them contrived by priests against his life. That 
the Jesuits employed this murderer, we have the testimony of Father 
Paul, who lived at that time ; and, as he was counsellor of state to the 
republic of Venice, was perfectly well acquainted with the intrigues 
of all the courts of Europe. He tells us that the Jesuits were the 
trainers up of Ravaillacs and king killers, and that they were the 
authors of the death of that great prince. 

It were tedious to enumerate the murders, treasons, rebellions, blas- 
phemies, and such like crimes, for which that society has been banish- 
ed out of France, from Dantzic, from the Venetian territories, out of 
Thorn and Cracovia, and Bohemia; not to mention that inhuman 
contrivance of theirs in England, to blow up both a king and parlia- 
ment at once. 

The following is the Jesuits' manner of consecrating both the per- 
sons and weapons employed for the murdering of kings and princes, 
by them accounted heretics. 

" The person whose silly reasons the Jesuits have overcome with 
their more potent argument, is immediately conducted into their 
Sanctum Sanctorum, designed for prayer and meditation. There 
the dagger is produced, carefully wrapt up in a linen safeguard, in- 
closed in an ivory sheath, engraven with several enigmatical charac- 
ters, and accompanied with an Agnus Dei ; certainly a most mon- 
strous copulation, so unadvisedly to intermix the height of murderous 
villainy, and the most sacred emblem of meekness, together. 

"The dagger being unsheathed, is hypocritically bedewed with 
holy water ; and the handle, adorned with a certain number of coral 
beads, put into his hand ; thereby assuring the credulous fool, that 
as many effectual stabs as he gives the assassinated prince, so many 
souls he should redeem out of purgatory on his own account. Then 



APPENDIX. 



265 



they deliver the dagger into the parricide's hands, with a solemn re- 
commendation in these words : — 

"Elected son of God, receive the sword of Jephthah, the sword of 
Samson, which was the jaw-bone of an ass, the sword of David where- 
with he smote offthe head of Goliath, the sword of Gideon, the sword 
of Judith, the sword of the Maccabees, the sword of Pope Julius II., 
wherewith he cut off the lives of several princes, his enemies, filling 
whole cities with slaughter and blood : go prosper, prudently coura- 
geous ; and the Lord strengthen thy arm." Which being pronounced, 
they all fall upon their knees, and the superior of the Jesuits pro- 
nounces the following exorcism : "Attend, O ye cberubims ; descend 
and be present, O seraphims ; you thrones, you powers, you holy 
angels, come down and fill this blessed vessel, the parricide, with 
eternal glory, and daily offer to him, for it is but a small reward, the 
crown of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of all the holy patriarchs and 
martyrs. He is no more concerned among us, he is now of your ce- 
lestial fraternity. And thou, O God most terrible and inaccessible, 
who yet has revealed to this instrument of thine in thy dedicated place 
of our prayer and meditation, that such a prince is to be cut off as a 
tyrant and a heretic, and his dominions to be translated to another 
line ; confirm and strengthen, we beseech thee, this instrument of 
thine, whom we have consecrated and dedicated to that sacred office, 
that he may be able to accomplish thy will. Grant him the habergeon 
of thy divine omnipotency, that he may be enabled to escape the hands 
of his pursuers. Give him wings, that he may avoid the designs 
of all that lie in wait for his destruction. Infuse into his soul the 
beams of thy consolation, to uphold and sustain the weak fabric of 
his body ; that contemning all fears, he may be able to show a cheer- 
ful and lively countenance in the midst of present torments or pro- 
longed imprisonments ; and that he may sing and rejoice with a more 
than ordinary exultation, whatever death he undergoes." 

" This exorcism beng finished, the parricide is brought to the altar, 
over which at that time hangs a picture containing the story of James 
Clement, a Dominican Friar, with the figures of several angels pro- 
tecting and conducting him to heaven. This Clement was accounted 
a blessed martyr for his barbarous murder of Henry III., king of 
France. This picture the Jesuits show their cully ; and, at the same 
time presenting him with a celestial coronet, rehearse these words — 
' Lord, look down and behold this arm of thine, the executioner of thy 
justice ; let all thy saints arise, and give place to him:' which cere- 
monies being ended, there are only five Jesuits deputed to converse 
with, and keep the parricide company ; who, in their common dis- 
course, make it their business, upon all occasions, to fill his ears with 
their divine wheedles ; making him believe that a certain celestial 
splendor shines in his countenance, by the beams whereof they are so 
overawed, as to throw themselves down before him and kiss his feet; 
that he appears no more a mortal, but is transfigured into a deity ; and 
lastly, in a deep dissimulation, they bewail themselves, and feign a 
kind of envy at the happiness and eternal glory which he is so sud- 
denly to enjoy ; exclaiming thus before the credulous wretch — 'Would 
to God, the Lord had chosen me in thy stead, and had so ordained it 
by these means, that, being freed from the pains of purgatory, I might 
go directly without let to paradise!' but if the persons whom they 
imagined proper to attempt the parricide, prove any thing squeamish, 
or reluctant to their exhortations, then, by nocturnal scarecrows and 
23 



266 APPENDIX. 

affrighting apparitions, or by the suborned appearances of the Holy 
Virgin, or some other of the saints, even of Ignatius Loyala himself, 
or some of his most celebrated associates, they terrify the soon re- 
trieved misbeliever, into a compliance, with a ready prepared oath, 
which they force him to take, and thereby they animate and encourage 
his staggering resolution. Thus these villainous and impious doctors 
in the arts oj murder and parricide, sometimes by the terrors of punish- 
ment, sometimes by the allurements of merit, inflame the courage of 
the unwary, and, having entangled them in the nooses of sacrilegious 
and bloody attempts, precipitate both soul and body into eternal 
damnation." 

This is the method by which the Jesuits clear themselves from their ene- 
mies ; how happy then must that nation be where Loyalists flourish ! 

This account of the religious orders in the Papal Hierarchy, is com- 
piled from statements which the monks themselves have recorded, and 
for the truth of which they are witnesses and vouchers ; and if so 
ridiculous a scene of superstilion, falsehood and blasphemy, as that 
which appears in the original and progress of every order, be not suf- 
ficient to create an aversion from Popery, even in its most zealous advo- 
cates, they must have lost all sense both of Liberty and R.eli,<rion. 



INDEX. 



Abuses of the Church, 

Alexander VI. Pope, 

Altars privileged, 

Anna Merlini, Nun, 

Anniversary Masses, 

Apparition of a Spirit, 

Assembly of Florence, 

Asylums, 

Auctorem Fidei, Bull, 

Augustin's doctrine, 

Austin Friars, 

Bellarmine, 

Benedictines, 

Benediction of Bells, 

Bishop's oath to the Popes, 

Bonaparte, 

Books in the Monasteries, 

Books prohibited, 

Borghigiani, Priest, 

Bribes for perjury. 

Bull, Auctorem Fidei, 

Bull, In Coena Domini, 

Buzzacherini, Priest, 

Cambridge, 

Canon Law, 

Canons, 

Cardinal Busca, 

Cardinal Ruffo, 

Carmelites, 

Carthusians, 

Cases of conscience, 

Catharine Irene Buonanichi, 

Nun, 
Cistercians, 
Clement XIV. Pope, 
Clerical immorality, 
Clodesia de Spighi, Nun, 
Coachman Priests, 
Confessor of Pope Pius, 
Consequences of papal domi- 
nion, 
Convents — 

Castiglion Fiorentino, 

Catharino, 

Lucia, 

Santa Croce, 
Convents suppressed, 
Council of Florence, 
Crudzli, Professor, 
Dancing Nuns, 
Death of Pope Ganganelli, 
Debt for Masses, 



Decretals, 159 
Despotism of Rome, 127 
Devotion to the heart of Jesus, 77 
Diminution of Convents, 175 
Dispensations, 153 
Dominican Monks, SO, 261 
Ecclesiastical Courts, j.171 
Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 148 
English Universities, 13 
False decretals, 127 
Faria, Monk, 216 
Festival of Ricci's Saint Ca- 
tharine, 235 
Festivals, 132 
Flavia Peraccine, Nun, 84 
Florence, Council, 118, 1S2 
Franciscan Monks, 113,260 
Galileo, 15 
Genoese Convents, 253 
Gilbertines, 259 
Girdle of the Virgin, 136 
Gregory VII. Pope, 163 
Hospitallers, 262 
Ignorance of Priests, 113, 240 
Ignorance of the people, 177 
Image crowned, 204 
Impurity of Nuns, 253 
In Coena Domini, Bull, 44 
Inconstancy of Ricci, 239 
Index expurgatorius, 143 
Indulgences, 134 
Indulgences for the dead, 135 
Infidel Priests, 215 
Influence of Monachism upon 

society, 14 

Inquisition, 109 

Inquisition in Tuscany, 223 

Insurrection of Arezzo, 210 

Interdicts, 164 

Jerome Savonarola, Martyr, 212 

Jesuitism, 101 

Jesuit logic, 27 
Jesuits, ' 160, 238, 263 

Jesuits turned Brachmans, 217 

Knox, the Reformer, 255 

Letter of Villensi, 55 

Lillies withered, 206 

Literature of the dark ages, 13 

Louis I. ofEtruria, 222 

Lucia, Convent, 75 

Lucrece Beroardi, Nun, 59 

Lupi, Priest, 94 



268 



Madonna of Ancona, 201 

Manni, Priest, 93 

Maria Catharine Berni, Nun, 60 
Maria Catharine Rossi, Nun, 86 
Maria Magdalen Sicini, Nun, 61 
Marianna Santini, Nun, 85 

Marriage, 137 

Masses, price of, 134 

Mathurines, 260 

Matrimonial dispensations, 170 
Memoir by Rucellai, 40 

Mendicant orders, 137 

Mengoni, Abbe, 218 

Menocchio, Pope's confessor, 229 
Miracle at Ancona, 201 

Miracle by an image, 26 

Miraculous image, 169 

Miraculous oil, 207 

Monachism opposed to know- 
ledge and piety, 13 
Monasteries, 168 
Monastic system and Chris- 
tianity, 18 
Money for Masses, 131 
Money from Venice for the 

Pope, 152 

Monkish orders, 254 

Monks and Nuns, 238 

Netherlands, 185 

Number of Masses, 155 

Number of Tuscan Priests, 1 20 
Nunneries at Lisbon, 237 

Nunneries contrary to nature, 10 
Nunneries in India, 237 

Nunnery at Charlestown, 7 

NUNS. 

Anna Merlini, 87 

Cath. Irene Buvnamici, 90 

ClodesiaDe Spighi, 90 

Flavia Peraccini, S4 

Lucrece Beroardi, 59 

Maria Catharine Berni, 60 

Maria Catharine Rossi, 85 

Maria Magdalen Sicini, 61 

Marianna Santini, 85 

Victoire Benedetti, 61 

Oath of Roman Priests, 49 

Oath of vassalage to the Pope, 138 

Opposition to reform, 148 

Oratories, 132 

Oxford, 13 

Paccanaristes, 226 

Pacchiani, Priest, 61 

Papal arrogance, 165 

Papal doctrines of reform, 141 

Papal exactions of money, 153 



Papal usurpations, 167 

Pay for Masses, 156 

Perjury bought, 218 

Persecutions, 208 

Pistoia, Synod, 180 

Pope Ganganelli poisoned, 30 

Popes the greatest criminals, 239 

Popish blasphemy, 203 

Popular ignorance, 177 

Postillion priests, 57 

Power of the Papacy, 158 

Proemonstratenses, 259 

Price of Masses, 134 

PRIESTS. 

Borghigiani, 94 

Buzzachinni, 93 

Lupi, 94 

Manni, 93 

Pacchiani, 61 

Priests' oath, 49, 138 

Priests' quarrels, 134 

Priests subject to civil power, 151 

Privileged altars, 134 

Prohibited books, 136 

Purgatory, 135 

Quarrels among priests, 134 

Reform of religious orders, 139 

Ricci and PiusVII. reconciled, 229 



Ricci, bishop, 
Ricci's apology, 

death, 

recantation, 

St. Catharine, 
Riot at Prato, 
Roman festivals, 
Roman priests, assassins, 
Roman priests' oath, 
Roman stratagems, * 
Rucellai's memoir, 
Ruffo, archbishop, 
Santa Croce, nunnery, 
Subornation of perjury, 
Suppression of convents, 
Supremacy of the Pope, 
Synod of Pistoia, 
Tax office for Bulls, 
Treachery of Archbishop of 

Florence, 
Tuscan priests, 
Useless oaths, 
Veiled images, 
Venetian education, 
Virgin of Humility, 
Weakness of Ricci, 
Wickedness of Popery, 
Withered lillies, 



39 

187 
236 
229 
225 
183 

58 
240 

49 
154 

40 

51 

60 
218 

56 
219 
180 

58 



120 
138 
133 
159 
192 
231 
213 
206 



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